NEW    YORK    FREE    SCHOOL    NO.  1. 

THE   NEW  BUILDING  OPENED  IN  1809  IN  TRYON  ROW. 


PUBLIC    EDUCATION 


IN  THE 


CITY  OF  NEW  YORK: 

ITS  HISTORY,  CONDITION. 
AND   STATISTICS. 


AN  OFFICIAL  REPORT  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 


BY  THOMAS   BOESE, 

Clerk  of  the  Board. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 
1869. 


TO  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 


IN  accordance  with  the  request  of  your  Honorable  Board,  I 
hereby  transmit  a  report  upon  the  origin,  progress,  and  condition 
of  Public  Education  in  this  city,  to  which  are  added  statistics 
and  other  information  in  reference  to  the  educational  facilities 
provided  by  religious,  charitable,  and  private  means. 

The  difficulty  of  obtaining  material  for  the  early  history  of 
education  in  this  city  was  very  great,  owing  to  the  fact  that  no 
attempt  had  heretofore  been  made  to  gather  information  on  that 
subject.  As  the  duties  of  my  office  take  most  of  my  time,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  me  to  obtain  the  necessary  knowledge 
and  properly  compile  it  without  assistance.  This  has  been  ren- 
dered by  THOMAS  F.  HARRISON,  Esq.,  Assistant  Superintendent 
of  Schools,  who  has  been  of  much  service  both  in  obtaining  the 
information,  and  in  the  literary  labor  requisite  to  the  preparation 
of  this  report. 

THOMAS  BOESE, 
Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

NEW  YORK,  December  30,  1867. 


PRINCIPAL  AUTHORITIES  USED  IN  THE  COMPILATION  OF 
THIS  REPORT. 


Reports  and  Documents  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

Reports  and  Addresses  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

Minute-books  of  the  Public  School  Society  and  its  Committees. 

Minute-books  of  Public  Schools. 

Sketch  of  the  New  York  Free  School.     Collins  &  Perkins,  1807. 

Lancasterian  System.     Collins  &  Perkins,  1807. 

Dunshee's  History  of  the  School  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.    N.  Y.  1853. 

Brodhead's  History  of  New  York. 

History  of  the  New  York  African  Free  Schools.     Mahlon  Day,  1830. 

Valentine's  Manuals  of  the  Common  Council. 

Mitchell's  New  York  in  1807. 

Francis's  Early  New  York. 

Hardie's  Description  of  New  York.     1827. 

New  York  as  it  Is.     1837. 

New  York  Past,  Present,  and  Future.     1851. 

Life  of  John  Griscom. 

Manuals  of  the  Free  School  Society. 

Manuals  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

Manuals  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

Longworth's  City  Directories. 

Newspapers  of  various  periods. 

Barnard's  American  Journal  of  Education. 

Reports  of  Legislative  Committees.     1857  and  1866. 

Special  Report  of  Superintendent  Rice.     1867. 

New  York  Code  of  Public  Instruction,  by  Superintendent  Rice.     Albany, 

1868. 

Charities  of  New  York. 

Batchelor's  History  of  Teachers'  Associations  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
Personal  reminiscences  of  various  teachers  and  school  officers  (oral). 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

SCHOOLS   OF   NEW  AMSTERDAM. 
1G14-1664. 

Public  Schools  in  Holland,  1585. — West  India  Company  bound  to  main- 
tain Schools. — First  Common   School  in  America. — ADAM  ROELAND- 
SEN.  —  Stuyvesant. — Luyck's  Latin   School,  1659.  —  Large  number  of 
'Schools Page  11 

II. 

SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIAL   PERIOD. 

1CC4-1776. 

Schools  remain  Dutch. — Lord  Cornbury's  efforts  to  anglicize  them. — Trinity 
School,  1710.— Effects  of  Immigration.— King's  School,  1754.— Struggle 
of  the  Dutch  for  their  Language. — Whelp  imported  from  Holland,  1755. 
— Revolution  closes  all  Schools 15 

III. 

FROM  THE  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

1TT6-1S05. 

City  during  the  Revolutionary  War. — Governor  Clinton. — Act  of  1795. — 
Rise  of  Benevolent   Societies. —  Educational    Societies. —  Manumission 
Society,  1785. — Female  Association,  1802.  —  Teachers'  AssociationT^^ 
Common  School  Fund  established 20 

IV. 

ORIGIN  AND  ESTABLISHMENT   OF   THE   FREE    SCHOOL   SOCIETY. 

1805. 

Free  School  Society. — Its  Origin  and  Purpose. — Memorial  of  1805.— Lengthy 
Title. — Lancaster 25 

V. 

FREE   SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

1805-1824. 

First  School.— Its  Removals.— New  Charter,  1808.— No.  2.— Effects  of  the 
War. — No.  3. — Apprentices. — Mr.  Picton,  of  No.  4. — Arrival  of  Lancas- 
ter.— Separate  Departments  for  Sexes. — Manual. — First  Vacation. — Con- 
troversy with  Baptists  and  others. — No.  5. — Pupils  not  restricted  to  special 
Districts...,  29 


Till  CONTEXTS. 

VI. 

FREE    SCHOOL    SOCIETY. 
1824-1S2G. 

Xo.  C. — Improvement  in  Character  of  Attendance. — Visit  of  La  Fayette. — 
Bethel  Baptist  Church. — Proposition  to  introduce  "  Pay  Scholars." — San- 
guine Anticipations  as  to  the  Results Page  37 

VII. 

PUBLIC    SCHOOL    SOCIETY. 
1826-1S2T. 

Third  Charter,  and  new  Title. — Schools  become  Pay  Schools. — Preparations 
for  great  Increase  of  Attendance. —  No.  7. —  No.  8. — No.  9. —  Establish- 
ment of  Executive  Committee. — Great  Extension  of  Course  of  Study. — 
Central  School. — Application  for  Assistants  refused 41 

VIII. 

PUBLIC    SCHOOL    SOCIETY- 
I827-1S2S. 

Failure  of  Pay  System.— Disastrous  Results. — Caste. — Reports  of  Committee  of 
Investigation.— First  Result. — Poor  American  Citizens  will  not  be  consid- 
ered Paup>ers. — Second  Result. — Failure  of  the  One-teacher  System  of 
Lancaster. — Permanent  paid  Monitors-general 45 

IX. 

PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

1828-1S29. 

Infant  School  Society. — Junior  Department  in  No.  8. — Infant  Department  in 
No.  10. — Comparison  of  the  two  Systems. — Lancaster  vs.  Pestalozzi. — 
Absurd  Conceptions  of  Pestalozzianism. — Rejection  of  Lancasterianism 
for  Infant  Pupils 50 

X. 

PUBLIC    SCHOOL   SOCIETY. 
1829-1832. 

Efforts  to  abolish  the  Pay  System  and  establish  true  Free  Schools. — Origin  of 
the  half-mill  Tax. — School  Census. — Grant  of  one-fourth  of  the  Tax  asked 
for. — Efforts  for  the  Remainder. — Common  Council  demands  Control. — 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum. — Tax  granted,  and  Asylum  admitted  to  par- 
ticipate   54 

XL 

PUBLIC    SCHOOL   SOCIETY. 

1S32-1842. 

Final  Abolition  of  the  Pay  System.— More  Primary  Departments  opened.— 
Primary  Schools  established. — Assistant  Teachers  employed. — Course  of 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Study  extended.— Evening  Schools. — Transfer  of  Schools  of  Manumission 
Society. — Saturday  Normal  School. — Trustees'  Hall. — Financial  Embar- 
rassments.— Application  of  Catholic  Free  Schools  for  Participation  in  the 
School  Fund. — Exciting  Controversy. — Governor's  Message. — Act  of 
April  11,  1842,  extends  the  State  System  to  the  City. — Organization  of 
the  Board  of  Education Page  59 

XII. 

BOARD   OF   EDUCATION   AND   PUBLIC    SCHOOL   SOCIETY. 

1842-1853. 

Difficulties  of  the  New  System. — Great  Opposition. — Prejudice. — Contrasts  of 
the  two  Organizations. — Their  radical  Difference  in  Principle. — Direct 
Appeal  to  the  People. — Gradual  Development  of  the  Ward  Schools. — 
Teachers. — Amendment  to  the  Act. — Progress  of  the  Public  Schools. — 
High  School.— Beneficial  Reaction  of  Ward  Schools  on  Public  Schools. — 
Leads  to  rapid  Changes. — Financial  Difficulties  of  the  Society. — They 
can  establish  no  new  Schools. — Free  Academy  opened. — Its  Effects  on 
the  System. — New  Style  of  School-houses. — Further  Embarrassments  of 
the  Society. — Interest  on  Mortgages. — Premonitions  of  the  final  Result. 
— M'Keon's  Report. — Mutual  Good-will  of  the  two  Bodies. — Successive 
Steps  leading  to  Consolidation.— rActof  June  4,  1853. — Final  Meeting,  and 
Dissolution  of  the  Society. — Summary 68 

XIII. 

BOARD  OF   EDUCATION. 

1853-1868. 

Beneficial  Results  of  the  Consolidation. — Measures  of  the  Board. — Influence 
of  the  Representatives  of  the  Society. — Depository  System. — Extension 
of  Normal  School  System. —  Superintendent's  Powers  increased. —  Re- 
building of  old  School-houses. — General  Introduction  of  Music. — Effects 
of  the  recent  War  on  Teachers'  Salaries. — Other  Expenses  of  the  Board. 
— Patriotic  Spirit  of  the  Schools,  and  of  the  Community  they  represent. — 
Amendments  of  the  Law. — Increased  Powers  of  the  Board. — Present  Con- 
stitution of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  of  the  various  local  Bodies..  85 

XIV. 

THE   RELIGIOUS   QUESTION. 

Religious  teaching  in  the  Dutch  Period. — Purposes  of  the  Free  School  Society 
at  its  Foundation. — Influence  of  the  Friends. — Voluntary  Association  of 
fifty  Ladies. — Religious  Census  of  Schools. — Special  moral  Instruction 
ordered  in  1819. — Visit  of  Moffit  and  Sommerfield  in  1820. — Address 
of  Moffit. —  Non-sectarian  Catechism  and  Scripture  Lessons. —  Bethel 
Baptist  Church,  and  the  Controversy  of  1822. — Controversy  of  1832,  and 
Admission  of  Orphan  Asylums  to  Participation.  —  Controversy  of 


X  CONTEXTS. 

1840-'42. — Remarkable  Excitement. —  Expurgation  of  School-books. — 
Law  of  1842  establishes  the  Board  of  Education. — The  present  Condition 
of  the  Question Page  96 

XV. 

THE   VAGRANT   QUESTION. 

Original  Purpose  of  Free  School  Society. — Special  Efforts  in  1819  and  1821. — 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism. — House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile 
Delinquents. — Renewed  Efforts  of  1828. — Appointment  of  Mr.  Seton  as 
Visitor. — His  Reports. — Efforts  of  1832. — Coercive  Measures  of  the  Com- 
mon Council. — Their  Failure. — Extra  Meeting  of  1838. — Its  Report. — 
Results. — Five  Visitors  appointed. — Plan,  abandoned  in  1841. — Relation 
of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Question. — Industrial  Schools. — Truant 
Laws. — Difficulties  of  the  Subject. — Census 116 

XVI. 

ORGANIZATION  AND   PRESENT  CONDITION  OF   SCHOOLS. 

Number  and  Classification  of  Schools. — Primary  Schools. — Grammar  Schools. 
—  Evening  Schools. —  Normal  Schools. —  Colored  Schools. —  Condition 
and  Course  of  Study  of  each.  —  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. — 
Teachers. —  Their  Examination,  License,  Appointment,  Removal,  Sal- 
aries.—  General  Control  and  Supervision. —  Departments  of  the  Clerk 
and  Superintendent...., 131 

XVII. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

School-houses  of  the  Public  School  Society. — Successive  and  Recent  Improve- 
ments.—  Specimens  of  New  Buildings. — Illustrations. —  The  general  Pol- 
icy of  tne  Board  as  to  School-houses 154 

XVIII. 
LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK.  166 

XIX. 
ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  CENSUS  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  1867 216 

XX. 

MEMORANDA — CHRONOLOGICALLY   ARRANGED. 

From  1614  to  the  Establishment  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1842 222 


HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION 

IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 


I. 

SCHOOLS  OF  NEW  AMSTERDAM. 
1614-1664. 

Public  Schools  in  Holland,  1585. — West  India  Company  bound  to  maintain 
Schools. — First  Common  School  in  America. — ADAM  ROELANDSEN. — 
Stuyvesant.— Luyck's  Latin  School,  1659. — Large  number  of  Schools. 

/  THE  settlers  of  New  Amsterdam  did  not  neglect  to  pro- 
vide for  the  education  of  their  children.  In  their  native 
land  they  had  themselves  been  participators  in  the  advan- 
tages of  public  instruction,  furnished  by  the  first  system  of 
common  schools  ever  established  in  Europe.)  The  thrift,  en- 
ergy, and  bravery  of  the  citizens  of  the  little  republic  were 
early  co-ordinated  with  a  wise  regard  for  the  cultivation  of 
intelligence,  and  legal  enactments  sought  to  protect  the  state 
from  the  evils  inseparable  from  an  ignorant  population. 
"  Neither  the  perils  of  war,  nor  the  busy  pursuit  of  gain,  nor 
the  excitement  of  political  strife,  ever  caused  them  to  neglect 
the  duty  of  educating  their  offspring.  .x  Schools  were  every- 
where provided,  at  the  public  expense,  with  good  school- 
masters to  instruct  the  children  of  all  classes  in  the  usual 
branches  of  education."1 

With  the  same  forethought,  the  national  authorities  bound 
the  West  India  Company  to  maintain,  in  their  distant  colony 
in  the  wilderness  of  New  Netherlands,  "  good  and  fit  preach- 
ers, school-masters,  and  comforters  of  the  sick ;"  all  of  which 

1  Broadhead. 


12  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

functions  seem  at  first  to  have  been  exercised  by  the  same 
individual.  The  exact  date  of  the  establishment  of  the  first 
school  on  this  island  can  not  now  be  definitely  ascertained ; 
but  enough  is  known  respecting  it  from  the  official  records  of 
the  town  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  it  had  the  honor  of  be- 
ing the  first  on  the  continent  of  America  which  was  main- 
tained at  the  public  expense,  and  was  open  to  the  children 
of  all  classes  of  society.  It  is  true  that,  like  the  schools  at 
home,  it  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Established  Church  ; 
no  people  having  yet  advanced  so  far  in  their  conceptions  of 
religious  liberty  and  mutual  right  as  to  place  the  public  sec- 
ular instruction  of  youth  under  the  control  of  the  civil  au- 
thorities alone. 

As  the  Government  bound  the  Company,  so  they,  in  their 
turn,  obliged  the  patroons  to  support,  in  their  several  agricul- 
tural colonies,  a  minister  and  a  school-master.  It  was  not  till 
1633,  even  in  New  Amsterdam  itself,  that  the  two  offices 
were  practically  separated ;  but  at  this  date,  and  with  the  ad- 
vent of  Wouter  Yon  Twiller  as  governor,  we  find  that  Dom- 
inie Bogardus  is  the  officiating  minister,  while  ADAM  KOE- 
LANTDSEN  is  at  the  same  time  mentioned  as  the  school-master — 
the  first  of  that  long  line  of  instructors  steadily  increasing  in 
numbers,  and  now  amounting,  in  the  public  and  private 
schools  of  the  city,  to  over  four  thousand  persons. 

The  school  was  long  without  a  permanent  home,  being 
kept  in  such  premises  as  could  from  time  to  time  be  obtain- 
ed. The  first  efforts  to  build  a  school-house  were  made  in 
1642 ;  but  the  financial  difficulties  of  the  colony  were  so 
pressing  that  the  funds  collected  were  again  and  again  di- 
verted to  other  uses,  chiefly  to  defense  against  the  Indians,  so 
that  the  building  was  probably  not  erected  till  after  the  En- 
glish occupation./  Small  private  schools  were  also  early  es- 
tablished for  the  children  of  the  more  wealthy  portion  of  the 
community,  but,  even  in  these,  no  one  could  teach  without  a 
license  from  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities.  ) 

The  range  of  study  must  have  been  very  limited,  as  ap- 
pears from  a  remonstrance  from  the  colonists  to  the  Govern- 


SCHOOLS   OF  NEW  AMSTEKDAM.  13 

ment  in  consequence  of  their- regularity  of  the  school,  espe- 
cially of  one  interregnum  of  three  months.  They  demanded 
that  the  school  should  have  at  least  two  good  masters,  and 
that  there  should  not  only  be  instruction  in  reading  and 
writing,  but  also  in  the  religious  doctrines  of  the  Church — 
an  early  indication  that  sectarian  had  a  natural  tendency 
to  separate  itself  from  secular  instruction,  and  can  only  be 
kept  in  combination  with  it  by  making  the  minister  the 
school-master,  or  the  school-master  the  minister.  As  to  other 
subjects  of  study,  the  simplest  forms  of  arithmetic  and  the 
keeping  of  accounts  were  not  taught  to  youth  till  the  next 
century,  geography  not  being  added  till  within  the  last  eighty 
years. 

The  interest  manifested  in  the  schools  by  Stuyvesant,  the 
last  Dutch  governor,  seems  to  have  increased  their  number 
throughout  the  colony.  At  the  close  of  his  administration 
there  were,  in  New  Amsterdam  alone,  three  public  schools 
and  a  dozen  or  more  private  schools,  besides  a  Latin  school 
of  such  high  reputation  that  pupils  were  sent  to  it  from  Fort 
Orange,  from  the  Delaware,  and  even  from  Virginia.  So 
great  an  attention  to  education  is  certainly  very  creditable  for 
a  town  numbering  at  the  most  only  some  fifteen  hundred  in- 
habitants, struggling  with  the  privations  of  a  distant  colony, 
and  surrounded  by  a  generally  hostile  Indian  population 
which  still  roamed  over  nearly  all  of  the  island,  and  in:  times 
of  peace  were  found  in  the  streets  of  the  settlement  itself.1 

(  The  school  first  established  as  the  Public  School  is  still  in 
existence.  It  is  known  as  the  "  School  of  the  Eeformed  Prot- 
estant Dutch  Church,"  its  peculiar  public  character  and  sup- 
port terminating  with  the  Dutch  Government.  Fully  partici- 
pating in  the  advanced  views  of  our  time,  it  is  yet  in  good 
and  thriving  condition,  and  seems  likely  long  to  continue,  as 

1  In  1658,  the  schout,  or  sheriff,  Nicasius  D'Sill,  complains  of  the  trouble 
he  has  had  with  the  "  shouting  of  the  Indians,"  at  the  same  time  venting  his 
wrath  upon  the  boys  of  the  town,  who,  by  "  cutting  of  hoekies"  caused  him 
much  annoyance.  Many  juvenile  Manhattanese  of  other  than  Dutch  extrac- 
tion still  keep  up  the  ancient  custom,  and  play  "hookey"  as  in  times  of  yore.— 
Valentine.  •> 


1-1  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

probably  the  oldest  educational  institution  in  the  United 
States.  A  few  years  since,  on  the  occasion  of  the  transfer  of 
the  school  to  its  present  commodious  building,  its  principal 
prepared  a  sketch  of  its  history,  from  which  the  greater  part 
of  this  and  the  following  section  has  been  compiled.1 

1  History  of  the  School  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,  by  H.  W. 
Dunshee. 


SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIAL  PERIOD.       15 


II. 

SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 
1664-1776. 

Schools  remain  Dutch. — Lord  Cornbury's  efforts  to  anglicize  them. — Trinity 
School,  1710. — Effects  of  Immigration. — King's  School,  1754. — Struggle 
of  the  Dutch  for  their  Language. — Whelp  imported  from  Holland,  1755. 
— Revolution  closes  all  Schools. 

DURING  the  century  following  the  transfer  of  the  colony 
to  the  English,  education  received  but  little  attention  from 
the  Government.  -  The  great  majority  of  the  people  were 
Dutch.  The  tide-waves  of  immigration  that  were  to  set  in 
from  the  British  islands  had,  as  yet,  scarcely  begun  to  move ; 
Dutch  customs  and  the  Dutch  language  long  prevailed,  and 
were  but  slowly  supplanted  or  modified  by  the  national  pe- 
culiarities of  the  new-comers.  A  glance  at  the  names  of 
those  who  were  associated  with  the  English  governor  in  the 
conduct  of  public  affairs  shows  that  wealth,  power,  and  in- 
fluence continued  to  be  held  by  the  descendants  of  the  orig- 
inal settlers  of  New  Amsterdam.  Their  churches  and  schools 
went  on  in  the  old  way,  though  receiving  no  governmental 
support,  except  that  the  excellent  Latin  school  of  Luyck,  es- 
tablished in  1659,  was  continued  by  the  English  authorities 
for  eight  years,  longer. 

By  the  terms  of  the  surrender  the  people  were  guarantied 
"  liberty  of  consciences  in  their  divine  worship  and  Church 
discipline,  with  all  their  accustomed  jurisdiction  with  respect 
to  the  poor,  and  orphans ;"  the  last  phrase  being  understood 
to  involve  the  care  of  the  Church  schools.)  This  was  made 
more  definite  by  the  charter  granted  by  William  III.,  who 
naturally  favored  the  Dutch  settlers,  in  which  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  "  Our  will  and  pleasure  further  island  we  do 


16  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

hereby  declare  that  the  ministers  of  said  Church,  for  the 
time  being,  shall  and  may,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
elders  and  deacons  of  said  Church,  for  the  time  being,  nom- 
inate and  appoint  a  school-master,  and  such  other  under-offi- 
cers  as  they  shall  stand  in  need  of."  Notwithstanding  this, 
several  of  the  English  governors,  whether  actuated  by  zeal 
for  the  English  Church,  or  by  the  enlightened  policy  of 
gradually  securing  uniformity  of  language  and  greater  ho- 
mogeneity of  the  people,  endeavored  to  break  up  the  distinct- 
ive Dutch  schools  throughout  the  province,  Lord  Cornbury 
even  "  claiming  the  direct  appointment  of  the  school-master." 
Though  partly  successful  on  Long  Island,  through  the  se- 
vere measures  used  to  effect  his  object,  yet  the  resolute  front 
presented  by  the  sturdy  Dutch  burghers  of  New  York  thor- 
oughly defeated  his  plans  in  the  city,  and  secured  for  a  while 
longer  a  continuance  of  the  old  customs. 

Meanwhile  new  schools  were  established  by  immigrants 
from  Great  Britian  and  the  neighboring  colonies.  In  1710 
the  school  still  existing  under  the  name  of  Trinity  School 
was  opened  by  "William  Huddlestone,  under  the  direction 
of  a  society  connected  with  the  English  Church.  A  few 
years  previous  to  this  a  free  Grammar  School  had  been 
founded  and  built  on  the  King's  Farm ;  an  Episcopal  mis- 
sionary, William  Yesey,  had  opened  a  school  for  blacks,  and 
numerous  additional  private  schools  had  been  established 
under  English  or  Dutch  masters. 

But  a  power  mightier  than  a  governor's  edicts  was  soon 
to  be  at  work,  slowly  gathering  a  force  that  would  in  a 
few  more  years  overcome  all  the  resistance  of  the  conserva- 
tives. The  great  immigration  was  about  to  begin.  As  late 
as  the  census  ordered  in  1754  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  the  population  of  the  entire  province  was 
less  than  97,000,  the  English  settlements  being  chiefly  on 
Long  Island  and  along  the  river.1  Within  little  more  than 

1  The  population  was  distributed  in  a  way^that  now  seems  very  singular. 
The  City  and  County  of  New  York  returned  10,7G8  whites  and  2272  blacks  ; 
while  the  City  and  County  of  Albany  reports  14,805  whites,  and  2G19  blacks : 


SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIAL  PERIOD.       17 

forty  years  after  this  the  population  of  the  city  alone  had 
advanced  from  thirteen  thousand  to  more  than  sixty  thou- 
sand, or  nearly  fivefold  ;  while  its  cosmopolitan  character  was 
already  indicated'  in  the  many  dialects  of  English,  Welsh, 
Irish,  Scotch,  and  Dutch  spoken  in  its  streets,,  and  greatly 
impairing  the  purity  of  the  English  tongue  that  was  finally 
to  prevail.  In  the  opinion  of  Smith,  the  historian,  "  the 
language  was  hopelessly  corrupt,"  there  was  no  uniform 
standard  as  in  the  New  England  colonies,  the  schools  were 
in  general  badly  conducted,  and  good  and  competent  instruct- 
ors were  only  to  be  found  in  the  private  employ  of  those 
families  whose  hereditary  wealth  enabled  them  to  secure  the 
best  advantages  for  their  children. 

(  The  year  1754  also  claims  notice  in  the  educational  histo- 
ry of  the  city  for  the  establishment  of  King's  College — the 
Columbia  College  of  post-Eevolutionary  times.  Its  charter 
was  granted  by  Governor  James  Delancy,  previous  to  which 
acts  had  been  passed  authorizing  lotteries  to  raise  money 
for  its  establishment.1  Till  nearly  the  close  of  the  century  it 
had  to  struggle  for  its  existence,  one  of  its  first  difficulties 
having  been  a  controversy  as  to  the  character  of  the  special 
.religious  influence  which  should  control  it,  finally  termina- 
ting in  the  adoption  of  the  forms  of  the  English  Episcopal 
Church.  ) 

Meanwhile  the  Dutch  battled  vigorously  against  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  language  and  customs  of  their  fathers.  As 
late  as  1755  the  Consistory  of  their  Church  sent  expressly  to 
Holland  and  imported  a  genuine  Dutch  school-master  and 
chorister,  one  John  Nicholas  Whelp,  who,  for  what  was  then 
thought  the  generous  salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  a  year, 
the  use  of  a  small  house  and  garden,  and  the  payment  of  the 
expenses  of  his  voyage,  was  induced  to  bring  out  with  him 
his  wife  and  family,  and  continued  to  serve  acceptably  until 
his  death  in  1773.  But  they  were  fighting  the  irresistible. 

total  population  of  the  province,  96,765. — From  census  of  1754,  as  quoted  in 
"MitchelCs  New  York  in  1807." 
1  Mitchell. 

B 


18  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

Even  before  the  end  of  Whelp's  time  English  seems  to  have 
been  introduced  into  the  school  itself.  The  Church  had  al- 
ready in  1764,  just  a  century  after  the  transfer  of  the  province, 
been  forced  reluctantly  to  alternate  its  Dutch  services  with 
one  in  the  English  tongue.  This  change  had  been  wrought 
against  the  most  strenuous  opposition,  but  was  finally  acknowl- 
edged necessary,  to  prevent  the  young  people  from  abandon- 
ing the  religious  connections  of  their  fathers.  The  necessity 
was  quite  as  great  for  the  further  continuance  of  the  school ; 
and  the  successor  of  Whelp,  appointed  in  1773,  was  expressly 
directed  ".not  only  to  teach  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, 
but  to  instruct  the  children  in  the  English  as  well  as  in  the 
Dutch  language."1 

But  the  fierce  excitements  of  the  Eevolutionary  period 
were  already  upon  them.  The  city  was  the  scene  of  some  of 

1  In  the  memoir  read  by  Judge  Benson  before  the  New  York  Historical  So- 
ciety in  181G  occurs  the  following  passage,  which  is  worth  preserving  ;  "  There 
was  a  day  always  kept  here  by  the  Dutch,  and  the  keeping  of  it  delegated  by 
the  mothers  to  their  daughters  still  at  school — Vrowen  Dagh  (Woman's  Day); 
the  same  with  the  Valentine's  Day  of  the  English,  and  although  differently, 
still,  perhaps,  not  less  salutarily  kept.  Every  mother's  daughter,  furnished 
with  a  piece  of  cord,  the  size  neither  too  large  nor  too  small ;  the  twist  neither 
too  hard  nor  too  loose ;  a  turn  round  the  hand,  and  then  a  sufficient  length 
left  to  serve  as  a  lash ;  not  fair  to  have  a  knot  at  the  end  of  it,  but  fair  to 
practice  for  a  few  days  to  acquire  the  sleight ;  the  law  held  otherwise,  dueling. 
On  the  morning  of  the  day,  the  youngster  never  venturing  to  turn  a  corner 
without  first  listening  whether  no  warblers  were  behind  it,  no  golden  apples  to 
divert  him  from  the  direct  course  in  this  race.  Schoolboy  Hippomenes  espied, 
pursued  by  charmer  Atalanta :  he,  encumbered  with  his  satchel,  still  striving 
to  outrun,  and,  to  add  to  his  speed,  bending  forward,  thereby  giving  the  requi- 
site roundness  to  the  space  between  the  shoulders  ;  she,  too  swift  afoot  for 
him,  and  overtaking  him,  and  three  or  four  strokes  briskly  and  smartly  laid  on  ; 
he,  to  avoid  a  further  repetition,  stopping  and  turning  ;  she  looking  him  stead- 
fast in  the  eye,  and  perceiving  it  required  all  the  man  in  him  to  keep  back  the 
tear ;  not  all  the  fruit  in  all  the  orchards  of  the  Hesperides,  and  in  their  best 
bearing  year,  to  compensate  for  the  exultation  of  the  little  heart  for  the  mo- 
ment. 

"The  boys  requested  that  the  next  day  should  be  theirs,  and  be  called 
Mannen  Dagh  (Man's  Day)  ;  but  my  masters  were  told,  the  law  would  thereby 
defeat  its  own  very  purpose,  which  was,  that  they  should,  at  an  age  and  in 
a  way  most  likely  never  to  forget  it,  receive  the  lesson  of  manliness : — he  is 
never  to  strike." — Quoted  in  Dunshee. 


SCHOOLS  DURING-  THE  ENGLISH  COLONIAL  PERIOD.       19 

the  most  memorable  events  of  its  early  stages.  "  Here  the 
Provincial  Congress  met  in  1765,  and  passed  the  famous  Dec- 
laration of  Eights.  Here  the  stamped  paper  had  been  de- 
stroyed, and  the  lieutenant-governor  hung  in  effigy.  The 
assembly  had  refused  to  provide  quarters  and  provisions  for 
such  troops  as  England  wished  to  march  into  the  colony, 
and,  on  the  arrival  of  a  cargo  of  tea  in  177,3,  the  Sons  of 
Liberty  destroyed  it.  These  and  other  like  measures,  when 
the  crisis  arrived,  led  to  the  early  subjugation  of  the  city, 
which,  as  the  head-quarters  of  the  British  army,  was  under 
martial  law.  Many  of  the  citizens  fled,  all  the  churches  and 
schools  were  closed,  and  naught  was  heard  save  the  accidents 
of  war."1 

1  Dunshce. 


20  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


III. 

FROM  THE  REVOLUTION  TO  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE 
FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

1-776-18O5. 

City  during  the  Revolutionary  War. — Governor  Clinton. — Act  of  1795. — 
Rise  of  Benevolent  Societies. —  Educational  Societies. —  Manumission 
Society,  1785. — Female  Association,  1802.  —  Teachers'  Association. — 
Common  School  Fund  established. 

DURING  the  seven  years  that  New  York  was  the  head- 
quarters of  the  British  army,  the  schools  and  the  college  re- 
mained closed.)  The  business  of  the  city  was  annihilated,  no 
other  portion  of  the  country  being  so  long  and  so  complete- 
ly isolated  and  cut  off  from  all  commercial  relations  with  the 
rest.  To  add  to  the  poverty  and  distress  incidental  to  such  a 
state  of  affairs,  the  two  disastrous  fires  of  July,  1776,  and"!Au- 
gust,  1778,  swept  away  a  large  part  of  the  dwellings  and 
stores,  and  there  were  neither  means  nor  inducements  to  re- 
build them.  The  school  history  of  the  period  is  a  complete 
blank. 

But  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  in  1781  assured  the  peo- 
ple that  their  redemption  was  at  hand.  Before  the  signing 
of  the  Treaty  of  Paris  many  of  the  inhabitants  had  already 
returned ;  while  four  days  previous  to  that  event,  and  months 
before  the  evacuation  of  the  city  in  November,  (1783,  the 
school  of  the  Dutch  Church  was  already  opened.  It  had  lost 
not  only  its  distinctive  language,  but  even  its  ancient  name 
of  "free"  or  "public"  school,  which  was  thenceforth  ex- 
changed for  the  term  "  Charity  School,"  received  in  common 
with  all  schools  supported  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of 
religious  societies./ 

Though  the  condition  of  education  was  one  of  the  first 
subjects  to  claim  and  arrest  public  attention,  no  definite  ac- 


BEFORE  THE   FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  21 

tion  was  taken  by  the  Legislature  till  1795.  Previous  to 
this,  the  subject  of  public  instruction  had  been  frequently  dis- 
cussed in  the  public  journals,  in  the  pulpits,  and  in  popular 
assemblages,  and  its  paramount  importance  to  the  future  sta- 
bility and  prosperity  of  the  young  republic  felt  and  acknowl- 
edged. Under  this  growing  interest,  the  leading  schools 
had  so  far  recovered  from  their  previous  prostration  as  to  re- 
ceive commendatory  notice  from  the  governor  in  his  annual 
message  of  1792 :  "  As  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  is  essen- 
tial to  the  promotion  of  virtue  and  the  preservation  of  liber- 
ty, the  flourishing  condition  of  our  seminaries  of  learning 
must  prove  highly  satisfactory ;  and  they  will,  I  am  persua- 
ded, be  among  the  first  objects  of  your  care  and  patronage, 
and  receive,  from  time  to  time,  such  further  aid  and  en- 
couragement as  may  be  necessary  for  their  increasing  pros- 
perity." 

(  In  1795,  he  distinctly  recommended  the  "  establishment 
of  Common  Schools  throughout  the  state,"  and,  from  his  lan- 
guage, we  may  infer  that  the  subject  had  already  been  intro- 
duced into  the  deliberations  of  the  Legislature  :•  "  While  it  is' 
evident  that  the  general  establishment  and  liberal  endow- 
ment of  academies  are  highly  to  be  commended,  and  are  at- 
tended by  the  most  beneficial  consequences,  yet  it  can  not  be 
denied  that  they  are  principally  confined  to  the  children  of 
the  opulent,  and  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  community 
is  excluded  from  their  immediate  advantages.  The  establish- 
ment of  Common  Schools  throughout  the  state  is  happily 
calculated  to  remedy  this  inconvenience,  and  will,  therefore, 
r,e-engage  your  early  and  decided  consideration." 
(  Pursuant  to  this  recommendation,  the  Legislature  passed, 
April  9, 1795,  "An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  Schools," 
which  appropriated  $50,000  a  year  for  five  years,  "for  the 
purpose  of  encouraging  and  maintaining  schools  in  the  sever- 
al cities  and  towns  in  this  state,  in  which  the  children  of  the 
inhabitants  residing  in  this  state  shall  be  instructed  in  the 
English  language,  or  be  taught  English  grammar,  arithmetic, 
mathematics,  and  such  other  branches  of  knowledge  as  are 


22  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

most  useful  and  necessary  to  complete  a  good  English  edu- 
cation.1^) 

Until  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  efforts 
for  the  establishment  of  systems  of  public  instruction  so  as  to 
benefit  the  masses  of  society  by  the  blessings  of  education, 
had  been  chiefly  the  work  of  individuals.  About  this  period, 
both  in '  this  country  and  in  Great  Britain,  a  memorable 
change  took  place  in  the  nature  and  .method  of  these  efforts, 
and  in  the  efficiency  of  the  means  adopted  to  render  them 
successful.  Voluntary  benevolent  and  philanthropic  associa- 
tions were  formed,  having  for  their  chief  purpose  the  exten- 
sion of  the  knowledge  of  things  human  and  divine  among  all 
classes  of  society.)  Sunday  Schools,  the  work  of  which  was 
at  first  necessarily  directed  in  a  great  measure  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  neglected  children  in  reading,  sprung  up  and  multi- 
plied about  the  close  of  the  American  War,  and  were  soon 
introduced  into  the  United  States.  At  no  previous  period 
had  religious  and  legislative  bodies  manifested  so  much  of  in- 
telligent interest  in  the  advantages  and  necessity  of  furnish- 
ing at  least  an  elementary  education  to  the  masses  of  the  peo- 
ple. Bell  and  Lancaster  were  just  entering  upon  the  work 
that  was  to  give  so  great,  and  wide  spread,  and  permanent 
an  impetus  to  the  cause  of  popular  instruction,  by  presenting 
a  plan  rendered  practicable  by  its  thorough  organization,  and 
the  comparative  smallness  of  the  expenditure  involved.  Oth- 
er benevolent  societies  also,  for  the  amelioration  of  the  many 
evils  of  the  social  system,  appeared  in  rapid  succession. 

Among  the  earliest  of  these  in  this  country  was  an  associa- 
tion formed  in  this  city  as  early  as  1785,  and  soon  after  in- 
corporated by  £he  Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  "mitigating 
the  evils  of  slavery,  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  blacks,  and 
especially  to  give  them  the  elements  of  education."  This  or- 
ganization was  known  as  the  Manumission  Society,  and  en- 
rolled among  its  members  a  considerable  number  of  persons 
of  the  highest  social  standing  in  the  community,  including  a 

1  Gov.  George  Clinton's  Messages  for  1792  and  1795,  as  quoted  in  the  val- 
uable and  comprehensive  report  of  Superintendent  Rice. 


FEMALE  ASSOCIATION.  23 

large  representation  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Governor 
Jay  was  its  first  President,  and  its  first  school  was  opened  in 
1787  in  Cliff  Street,  and  numbered  about  one  hundred  pupils. 
It  seems  to  have  been  conducted  on  the  plan  usual  in  mixed, 
or  ungraded  schools,  until  after  the  introduction  of  the  Lan- 
casterian  system.  There  were  then  in  the  city  about  4000 
colored  persons,  more  than  half  of  whom  were  returned  as 
slaves  by  the  census  of  1805.1  Several  schools  were  estab- 
lished and  maintained  by  this  society,  and  subjected  to  fre- 
quent and  vigilant  inspection  by  its  officers  and  members, 
the  funds  being  supplied  by  voluntary  contributions. C  The" 
schools  were  continued,  in  a  state  of  greater  or  less  efficienc}^ 
through  a  period  of  about  forty  years,  when,  upon  the  solicita- 
tion of  the  Society  itself,  the  Legislature  of  1834  authorized 
the  transfer  of  the  schools  and  their  considerable  real  estate 
to  the  Public  School  Society ;  and  these  are  now  the  Colored 
Schools  of  the  Board  of  Education.  ) 

(in  1802  a  school  for  white  girls  was  opened  by  a  Socie- 
ty known  as  the  "  Female  Association  for  the  relief  of  the 
Poor,"  which  had  been  established  some  years  previously, 
and  consisted  of  benevolent  ladies  connected  with  the  Society 
of  Friends,  popularly  known  as  Quakers.  "  It  was  the  orig- 
inal promoter  of  Free  Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York,'r  and 
so  it  extended  its  influence  as  at  one  time  to  have  several 
large  elementary  schools  under  its  direction  an  8.  control,  the 
last  of  which  was  extinguished  in  1846  in  consequence  of 
their  loss  of  further  state  and  municipal  aid.  (Besides  the  — - 
other  permanent  good  wrought  by  this  vigorous  association 
during  the  half-century  of  its  existence,  it  is  definitely  known 
and  acknowledged  that  it  was  the  success  and  advice  of  these 
ladies  which  induced  a  number  of  gentlemen,  connected 
with  them  by  domestic  and  social  relations,  to  attempt  the 
same  kind  offices  for  the  neglected  boys  of  the  city,  thus 
leading  to  the  establishment  of  the  "  Free  School  Society,"  \ 
which  afterward  became  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  j 
City  of  New  York,/) 

1  "Whites,  71,702;  free  colored,  I960;  slaves.  2048." — Census  o/"lS05. 


24  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

I 

Private  schools  also  had  largely  increased  in  numbers 
with  the  increasing  population  of  the  city.1  At  least  as  early 
as  1798  a  Teachers'  Association  was  in  existence,  its  meet- 
ings being  held  at  Federal  Hall  every  Saturday  evening. 
The  President  for  1798  was  Mr.  John  Woods,  and  for  1799, 
Mr.  John  Campbell.2  In  1805  there  were  in  the  city  141 
teachers,  106  of  whom  were  males,  and  35  females,  including 
those  of  the  Church  schools,  supported  by  the  Dutch  Eeformed, 
Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  and  Eoman  Catholic  denominations, 
the  last  of  these  having  the  largest,  numbering  about  100  in 
attendance.3  The  schools  of  the  Orphan  Asylums  were  not 
yet  in  existence ;  the  New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  the  first 
established  of  these,  and  the  oldest  one  in  the  United  States 
not  being  organized  till  the  following  year,  1806.4 

This  was  the  general  condition  of  school  affairs  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  new  and  important  era  of  1805,  a  year  render- 
e*d  memorable  in  our  local  educational  history  by  the  law 
first  establishing  the  Common  School  Fund  of  the  State,  and 
by  the  act  of  incorporation  of  the  Free  School  Society  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  ) 

1  "There  are  many  private  schools,  but  these  are  not  generally  under  as 
good  regulations  as  in  Connecticut  and  other  New  England  States." 


The  population  in  1756  was  10,881. 
"  »«•          1771    "    21,863. 

"  '<•          1786    "    23,614. 


The  population  in  1791  was  33,191. 
k*  "        1801    "    60,849. 

1805    "    75,770. 


Lone/worth's  Directory  for  1S05. 

8  Directory  1798,  1799;  3  Ibid.  1805. 

4  This  year  is  further  marked  by  the  first  course  of  scientific  and  popular 
lectures  ever  given  in  the  city  of  New  York.  They  were  by  Professor  John 
Griscom,  and  were  well  attended. 


OKIGIN  OF  THE  FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  25 


IV. 

ORIGIN  AND  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

18O5. 

Free  School  Society. — Its  Origin  and  Purpose.— Memorial  of  1 805. —Lengthy 
Title. — Lancaster. 

THE  Free  School  Society  was  founded  in  1805.  The  re- 
sults that  have  flowed  from  the  successive  stages  of  its  prog- 
ress have  had  so  marked  and  lasting  an  influence  on  the 
condition  of  public  instruction  in  the  great  city  of  the  conti- 
nent, that  the  history  of  its  origin  and  development  contains 
much  matter  of  permanent  interest.  From  the  humblest 
beginnings,  it  gradually  extended  the  field  and  advanced  the 
character  of  its  operations,  until  in  the  direction  of  the  edu- 
cational interests  of  the  masses  of  a  vast  community,  it  held 
a  trust  such  as  probably  never  before  was  confided  to  a  body 
of  private  citizens. 

The  original  purpose  of  the  Society  was  strictly  charitable. 
The  one  hundred  and  forty-one  teachers  of  the  city  were  all 
engaged  in  private  schools,  excepting  the  few  who  were  em- 
ployed in  the  parochial  charity  schools  of  the  several  church- 
es, in  those  of  the  Manumission  Society,  and  in  the  school  for 
poor  white  girls  which  was  supported  by  the  Female  Asso- 
ciation. There  yet  remained  a  large  number  of  children  not 
connected  with  any  religious  body  and  attending  no  school, 
their  parents  being  either  too  poor  or  too  indifferent  to  their 
interests  to  afford  them  even  the  simplest  rudiments  of  an 
education.  The  condition  of  these  children,  and  the  final  ef- 
fects of  their  ignorance  upon  the  community,  had  long  been 
a  subject  of  consideration  among  the  philanthropic. 

The  success  of  the  school  of  the  Female  Association  show- 
ed the  feasibility  of  organizing  a  similar  society  on  a  broader 


26  HISTOKY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

basis  for  the  benefit  of  the  neglected  poor.  An  incidental  con- 
versation between  two  or  three  individuals,  one  of  them  for 
many  subsequent  years  the  vice-president  of  the  society,1  led 
to  the  call  of  a  private  and  informal  meeting  of  citizens  of  in- 
fluence, and  without  respect  to  denominational  lines,  who 
would  be  likely  to  favor  such  an  enterprise.  Twelve  attended. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  mature  a  plan  and  call  a  larger 
and  more  formal  meeting,  which,  convening  a  few  days  later, 
passed  a  resolution  to  memorialize  the  Legislature  for  a  char- 
ter. The  memorial  was  signed  by  about  one  hundred  citi- 
zens, whose  high  social  position  and  influence,  diversity  of 
religious  views  and  connections,  and  unanimity  in  philan- 
thropic effort,  gave  promise  of  wide  usefulness  to  the  pro- 
posed society.  The  memorialists  urged  the  importance  of 
their  subject,  "  and  the  multiplied  evils  daily  resulting  from 
the  neglected  education  of  the  children  of  the  poor.  They  al- 
luded more  particularly  to  that  description  of  children  who 
do  not  belong  to,  or  are  not  provided  for  by  any  religious  so- 
ciety, and  who  therefore  do  not  partake  of  the  advantages 
arising  from  the  different  charity  schools  established  by  the 
various  religious  societies  in  this  city.7'2 

In  response  to  the  memorial,  the  Legislature  promptly 
passed  an  act  of  incorporation  on  the  9th  of  April,  1805, 
the  lengthy  title  of  the  Society  denning  at  the  same  time  its 
field  of  usefulness — "  The  Society  for  Establishing  a  Free 
School  in  the  City  of  New  York,  for  the  Education  of  such 
poor  Children  as  do  not  belong  to  or  are  not  provided  for  by 
any  Eeligious  Society."  The  list  of  names  mentioned  in  the 
act  begins  with  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  ends  with  Dr.  Samuel 
L.  Mitchell,  and  includes  a  representation  of  the  best  ele- 
ments of  the  old  English,  Dutch,  and  other  families.  The 
same  instrument  appointed  thirteen  trustees  for  the  year 
1805,  who  elected  Clinton  president.  Besides  those  thus 
mentioned  by.  name,  the  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen,  and  as- 
sistant aldermen  were  declared  ex-officio  members  of  the  So- 
ciety, which  was  also  open  to  any  citizen  upon  his  subscri- 

1  John  Murray,  Esq.  2  Memorial,  Feb.  25,  1805. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  FREE   SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  27. 

bing  and  contributing  eight  dollars  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Society.  At  an  annual  meeting  in  May  a  report  was  to  be 
rendered  by  its  thirteen  trustees,  and  a  new  board  elected. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  and  immediately  after  their  organiza- 
tion, the  trustees  published  an  address  to  their  fellow-citizens, 
setting  forth  the  nature  of  their  enterprise,  and  appealing  "  to 
the  affluent  and  charitable  Christians  of  all  denominations  " 
for  the  necessary  assistance.  A  full  year  was  spent  in  rais- 
ing money  enough  to  make  a  practical  beginning  by  opening 
a  school.1  During  the  interval,  a  member  of  the  society  be- 
ing in  England,  had  visited  the  school  opened  by  Joseph  Lan- 
caster in  the  Borough  Road,  near  London,  in  1801,  and  was  so 
impressed  with  the  advantages  of  Lancaster's  plan  for  giving 
elementary  instruction  to  large  masses  at  a  small  expense, 
that  he  urged  and  procured  its  adoption  in  the  new  enter- 
prise. 

This  famous  system,  then  entirely  new,  was  drawing  great 
attention  in  England,  and  finally  spread  over  a  large  part  of 
Europe  and  this  country.  In  the  brief  space  of  three  or  four 
years  its  claims  had  been  so  widely  and  so  energetically  ad- 
vocated, that  thousands  of  intelligent  men  believed  that  a 
final  and  immediate  remedy  had  been  found  for  the  evils  of 
popular  ignorance,  and  that  the  era  of  universal  intelligence 
had  begun.2  A  plan  by  which  it  was  claimed  that  five  hun- 

1  The  original  subscription-book,  with  the  names  of  the  donors,  may  be  found 
in  the  archives  of  the  Historical  Society. 

2  The  following  extracts  will  show  the  extent  of  this  delusion :  De  Witt 
Clinton,  in  a  speech  on  opening  the  enlarged  free  school  at  New  York,  1810, 
says :   "  I  confess  that  I  recognize  in  Lancaster  the  benefactor  of  the  human 
race.     I  consider  his  system  as  creating  a  new  era  in  education,  as  a  blessing 
sent  down  from  heaven  to  redeem  the  poor  and  distressed  of  this  world  from 
the  power  and  dominion  of  ignorance. 

Again,  in  his  message  as  governor  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York  in  1818, 
he  says :  "  Having  participated  in  the  first  establishment  of  the  Lancasterian 
System  in  this  country;  having  carefully  observed  its  progress  and  witnessed  its 
benefits,  I  can  confidently  recommend  it  as  an  invaluable  improvement,  which, 
by  wonderful  combination  of  economy  Jn  expense  and  rapidity  of  instruction, 
has  created  a  new  era  in  education.  The  system  operates  with  the  same 
efficacy  in  education  as  labor-saving  machinery  does  in  the  useful  arts." 


28  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

dred  or  a  thousand  children  could  be  profitably  instructed 
under  the  care  of  a  single  teacher,  with  no  assistance  except 
what  should  be  rendered  by  the  children  themselves,  might 
well  fill  with  hope  all  that  wished  well  to  their  race. 


President  Nott,  in  an  address  to  the  students  of  Union  College,  July  11, 
1811,  exclaims:  "Where  is  Lancaster,  who  has  introduced,  and  is  introduc- 
ing a  new  era  in  education  ?"  etc.  John  Adams  writes  to  a  friend  in  Cam- 
bridge, "  I  have  heard  friend  Lancaster  with  pleasure ;  he  is  an  excellent 
scholastic  and  academic  disciplinarian.  I  was  really  delighted  and  enlighten- 
ed by  that  lecture." — From  Barnard's  Am.  Journal,  1861. 


FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  29 


y. 

FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
1S05-1824. 

First  School. — Its  Removals. —  New  Charter,  1808. — No.  2. —  Effects  of  the 
War. — No.  3. — Apprentices. — Mr.  Picton,  of  No.  4. — Arrival  of  Lancas- 
ter.— Separate  Departments  for  Sexes. — Manual. — First  Vacation. — Con- 
troversy with  Baptists  and  others. — No.  5. — Pupils  net  restricted  to  special 
Districts. 

THE  Society  took  prompt  measures  to  put  the  new  plan 
into  operation.  "Happily  a  teacher1  who  had  already  adopted 
it  with  success,  and  who  in  other  respects  was  well  qualified 
for  the  undertaking,  was  found.  Under  his  superintendence, 
therefore,  the  school  was  first  opened  on  the  17th  of  May, 
1806,  in  a  small  apartment  (in  the  old  Mission  House)  in 
Bancker  Street — now  Madison  Street — near  Pearl.  Its  ap- 
pearance was  in  every  respect  as  humble  as  were  the  unhap- 
py objects  whose  improvement  in  it  was  contemplated."2 

The  school  was  at  once  a  success.  The  little  room  was 
soon  overcrowded,  its  numbers  reaching  sixty -seven.  A  new 
enterprise,  and  in  such  energetic  and  benevolent  hands,  it 
wanted  neither  visitors  nor  friends.  Contributions  in  money, 
cloth,  stockings,  shoes,  and  hats  were  freely  given  for  the 
physical  comfort  of  the  needy  pupils,  and  Colonel  Henry 
Kutgers,  afterward  the  second  President  of  the  Society,  do- 
nated a  valuable  lot  of  ground  in  Henry  Street  as  a  site  for 
the  school-house. 

"Having,  however,  fully  ascertained  that ^ an  entire  reli- 
ance on  the  benevolence  of  individuals  for  the  support  of  the 

1  Mr.  William  Smith. 

2  "  An  Account  of  the  New  York  Free  School,"  published  by  Collins  &  Per- 
kins, 1807. 


30  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

institution  would  not  place  the  funds  in  a  condition  to  meet 
the  expenses  which  must  necessarily  arise,  the  trustees  nat- 
urally turned  their  attention  to  those  sources  whence  ade- 
quate assistance  could  alone  be  expected.  The  Corporation, 
as  guardians  of  the  city,  and  especially  of  that  part. of  it  which 
the  views  of  this  society  particularly  embrace,  were  early  ad- 
dressed with  a  memorial  soliciting  their  assistance.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  representation,  a  committee  from  that  body 
visited  the  school,  who  appeared  fully  convinced  of  the  use- 
fulness of  the  establishment ;  and  the  result  was  an  appropria- 
tion of  the  workshop  adjacent  to  the  almshouse  for  the  tem- 
porary accommodation  of  the  school,  and  the  sum  of  five 
hundred  dollars  toward  putting  it  in  repair;  the  Society 
agreeing  to  receive  and  educate  fifty  children  from  the  alms- 
house."1 

In  April,  1807,  the  school  was  removed  to  the  new  quar- 
ters, its  number  soon  increasing  to  one  hundred  and  fifty,  in- 
cluding the  fifty  pauper  children,  the  limit  of  accommodation 
being  about  two  hundred.  Application  for  assistance  was 
meanwhile  made  to  the  Legislature,  resulting  in  a  grant  of 
four  thousand  dollars  toward  erecting  a  building  and  an  ad- 
ditional thousand  dollars  each  year,  all  from  the  excise  funds 
of  the  city,  "until  aid  could  be  regularly  afforded  from  the 
interest  of  the  School  Fund  of  the  state."3 

In  a  very  short  time  the  new  quarters  also  became  too 
strait  for  the  expanding  school,  and  sufficient  funds  for  a  new 
building  of  proper  size  not  having  yet  been  accumulated,  the 
Society  again  applied  to  the  Corporation  for  assistance,  and 
received  the  liberal  gift  of  the  building  known  as  the  "  Old 
Arsenal,"  conveniently  situated  on  Chambers  Street  and  Try- 
on  Row.  The  property  was  valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars, 
and  was  accompanied  by  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
in  money,  to  assist  in  preparing  the  building  for  a  school. 
The  condition  attending  this  liberal  grant  was  that  the  Socie- 
ty should  educate  all  the  children  of  the  almshouse.  Exten- 

1  Second  Annual  Report,  May  4,  1807. 

3  Report  of  the  Legislative  Committee,  Mr.  Clinton,  chairman. 


FREE  SCHOOL   SOCIETY.  31 

sive  changes  were  made  in  the  building,  costing  about  $13,000, 
and  providing  not  only  a  school-room  for  five  hundred  pu- 
pils, but  also  apartments  for  the  use  of  the  Board  and  for  the 
teacher's  family. 

While  these  changes  were  in  progress,  the  Society  had 
again  applied  to  the  Legislature  for  an  extension  of  their  pow- 
ers, and  a  new  charter,  granted  in  April,  1808,  changed  their 
title  from  "  the  Society  for  Establishing  a  Free  School,"  to 
"  the  Free  School  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York."  In  De- 
cember, 1809,  the  new  school  building,  long  known  as  No.  1, 
was  opened  with  interesting  ceremonies,  the  President,  Mr. 
Clinton,  delivering  an  appropriate  address. 

A  site  having  already  been  provided  by  the  munificence 
of  Colonel  Rutgers,  the  Society  again  raised  some  $13,000 
by  subscription  from  the  citizens,  and  on  the  13th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1811,  school-house  No.  2  was  opened,  having  cost  about 
$11,000.  The  same  year  the  Society  received  a  donation 
from  the  Corporation  of  Trinity  Church  of  several  lots  on 
Christopher  Street,  and  a  further  grant  of  $4000  from  the  Leg- 
islature, with  an  annuity  of  $500  during  its  pleasure,  the  num- 
ber of  trustees  being  at  the  same  time  increased  to  nineteen. 

The  war  with  Great  Britain,  1812-'15,  greatly  interfered 
with  the  prosperity  and  growth  of  the  city,  and  the  Society, 
while  contriving  to  keep  open  its  schools,  was  not  able  to 
increase  their  number.  In  1815,  $3708.14  was  oppor- 
tunely received,  being  the  quota  of  the  School  Fund  under 
its  first  apportionment.  With  the  return  of  prosperity,  and 
the  vast  increase  of  immigration  after  the  war,  the  operations 
of  the  Society  began  again  to  expand.  Among  other  meas- 
ures, and  in  order  to  secure  the  utmost  efficiency  in  the  inter- 
nal management  of  their  schools,  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  obtain  from  England,  and  through  the  agency  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  School  Society — the  very  centre  and  fountain- 
head  of  improved  Lancasterianism — a  person  completely  com- 
petent to  teach  the  system  in  its  most  perfect  form.  A  sal- 
ary of  eight  hundred  dollars  was  offered,  together  with  the  ex- 
penses of  the  passage. 


32  HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

Some  months  before  the  arrival  of  the  expected  model 
teacher,  Mr.  Shepard  Johnson,  a  young  man  who  had  re- 
ceived his  entire  education  in  the  schools  of  the  Society,  and 
had  passed  through  the  successive  stages  of  monitorship  with 
great  credit,  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society  to  inspect  the  results  of  the  monitorial  system  in  that 
city,  into  which  it  had  been  introduced  soon  after  the  first 
experiments  in  New  York.  Upon  his  return  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  charge  of  School  No.  3,  which  was  first  open- 
ed in  May,  1818,  in  a  public  building  on  the  corner  of  Amos 
and  Hudson  Streets,  the  use  of  certain  rooms  having  been 
granted  by  the  Corporation.  Mr.  Johnson  was  the  first  of 
the  thousands  of  teachers  who  have  been  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  city,  and  continued  for  many  years  in 
the  employ  of  the  Society,  and  was  of  great  service  not  only 
in  his  own  school,  but  in  assisting  and  directing  at  the  or- 
ganization of  other  new  schools  intrusted  to  parties  of  less  ex- 
perience. 

So  well  satisfied  were  the  trustees  with  the  results  in  Mr. 
Johnson's  case,  that  about  the  time  of  his  appointment  in 
1818,  they  introduced  a  plan  for  the  regular  training  of  fu- 
ture teachers,  it  being  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  system  to  have 
but  one  teacher  to  each  department,  however  large.  Three 
of  the  most  promising  lads,  one  for  each  school,  were  selected 
from  the  monitors-general  and  apprenticed  to  the  Society. 
They  were  to  be  boarded  and  clothed,  to  reside,  if  possible, 
with  their  principals,  and  at  the  end  of  three  years'  satisfactory 
service  were  to  receive  one  hundred  dollars  each.  The  ex- 
periment was  never  renewed,  it  being  supposed  that  as  good 
results  to  the  system  could  be  attained  in  another  way.  The 
expense,  about  two  hundred  dollars  each  per  year,  was  thought 
so  great  that  means  were  found  to  terminate  the  engagements, 
and  monitors-general  were  supplied  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  a 
week.1 

In  1818,  Mr.  Charles  Picton,  the  expected  teacher,  arrived 

1  One  of  these  three  lads  is  still  connected  with  the  city  schools,  being  tho 
Principal  of  a  highly-successful  Ward  School  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city. 


FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY,  33 

• 

from  England,  bringing  with  him  a  supply  of  slates  and 
books,  and  other  school  material,  for  the  use  of  the  Society. 
He  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  a  new  school,  No.  4,  then 
in  process  of  erection  in  Kivington  Street,  and  which  was 
opened  on  the  1st  of  May,  1819,  Mr.  Picton  being  employed 
in  the  interval  by  permission  of  the  Board,  and  at  the  same 
salary,  in  reorganizing,  on  the  Lancasterian  system,  the  paro- 
chial school  of  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Barclay  Street. 

No.  4  was  the  first  school-house  specially  constructed  with 
separate  departments  for  boys  and  girls.1  No.  1  had  no  girls, 
they  being  taught  by  the  Female  Association.  No.  2  had  a  few 
girls,  but  in  1818  it  was  stated  in  a  hand-bill  circulated  in  that 
neighborhood  by  order  of  the  Society  that  the  teacher  was 
forbidden  to  admit  any  more,  those  already  enrolled  being 
transferred  to  the  schools  of  the  Female  Association  as  fast  as 
boys,  who  were  specially  invited,  could  be  found  to  take  the 
vacated  places.  On  the  organization  of  No.  3  in  its  tempo- 
rary quarters,  it  was  found  impossible  to  exclude  the  girls  en- 
tirely, as  the  Female  Association  had  no  school  in  that  vicin- 
ity. They  had  no  separate  department  till  the  completion  of 
the  new  building  on  the  corner  of  Grove  and  Hudson  Streets, 
in  1821.  In  No.  4,  Mrs.  Picton  was  appointed  teacher  of  the 
Female  Department,  at  a  salary  of  three  hundred  dollars,  her 
husband  receiving  eight  hundred  dollars  for  the  Boys'  Depart- 
ment, with  two  hundred  dollars  additional  for  house-rent,  the 
teachers  of  the  other  schools  living  in  the  school  buildings. 
In  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible  benefit  from  his  train- 
ing and  experience,  Mr.  Picton,  of  whom  great  things  were  ev- 
idently expected,  was  entirely  emancipated  from  the  by-laws 

1  In  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  for  1820,  No.  4  is  referred  to  as  "  the  only 
school  having  an  exclusively  girls'  department ;"  and  the  gentlemen  being  evi- 
dently puzzled  with  so  delicate  a  novelty,  the  ladies  of  the  Female  Association 
were  solicited  to  appoint  a  committee  for  an  occasional  visit  of  inspection,  and 
to  report ;  but  they  declined  "for  want  of  time,"  but  more  probably  because 
this  new  department  was  an  incursion  into  their  own  special  field,  which  had 
hitherto  steadily  expanded.  Commencing  with  a  mere  handful,  in  1817  they 
had  three  schools  and  400  girls;  in  1819,  600  "little  girls;"  and  in  1820,  700 
girls ;  the  register  of  the  Free  Schools  being  at  the  same  date  SoSOjof  whom 
by  far  the  greater  part  were  boys. 

c 


oi  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

and  Manual,  and  directed  "  to  conduct  his  school  in  any  way  he 
thought  fit  until  further  orders  from  the  trustees." 

In  December,  1818,  Mr.  Lancaster  himself  arrived  in  New 
York,  being  on  a  visit  to  the  cities  of  America  for  the  purpose 
of  advocating  the  advantages  of  his  system,  which  he  found 
already  established,  not  only  in  the  schools  of  the  Free  School 
Society,  but  also  in  those  of  the  Manumission  Society,  the  Fe- 
male Association,  and  in  the  Dutch  Eeformed,  Catholic,  and 
some  other  parochial  schools.  He  met  with  a  warm  welcome 
from  De  Witt  Clinton  and  other  prominent  citizens,  and  his 
lectures,  given  in  one  of  the  school-rooms  0?  the  Society,  were 
well  attended,  and  did  much  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the 
friends  of  public  instruction.  A  new  energy  seems  to  have 
been  infused  into  the  Society  itself.  The  teachers  were  direct- 
ed to  compile  a  new  manual  of  the  system  as  practiced  in  the 
schools,  in  which  work  they  were  assisted  by  the  teachers  of 
the  Manumission  Society.1  It  was  published  in  1820,  and  was 
accompanied  with  a  historical  sketch. 

The  plan  of  separate  departments  for  the  sexes  was  carried 
out,  small  libraries,  consisting  chiefly  of  works  on  history, 
voyages,  and  travels  were  introduced  into  each  school,  and 
an  address  to  parents  was  widely  circulated,  urgently  solicit- 
ing their  assistance  in  securing  the  regular  attendance  of  their 
children  both  at  the  schools  of  the  Society  and  at  the  various 
Sabbath  Schools,  and  abounding  with  advice  as  to  their  relig- 
ious, moral,  and  sanitary  training,  and  the  effects  of  parental 
example.  At  the  same  time  the  Board  memorialized  4the 
Legislature  for  assistance  in  finishing  the  new  school  build- 
ing, No.  4,  laying  great  stress  upon  the  effects  of  the  rapid 
immigration  which  had  again  set  in  from  Europe,  consisting, 
to  a  great  extent,  of  those  whose  means  did  not  enable  them 
to  pay  for  the  education  of  their  children.8  The  annual  ex- 

1  Each  of  the  compilers  was  remunerated  with  a  gift  of  twenty-five  copies  of 
the  Manual,  which,  as  the  minutes  of  the  Society  itself  soon  pronounce  the 
hook  unsahxhle  even  at  75  cents,  was  rather  light  pay  for  the  embodiment  of 
so  much  of  personal  experience  and  labor. 

2  They  asked  for  $10,000,  but  received  only  $5000;  but  their  funds  were 
further  increased  by  an  act  in  relation  to  lotteiit-s,  directing  that  the  $'500  to 


FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  35 

animations,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  simultaneously 
conducted  in  all  the  schools,  were  now  changed  into  a  more 
formal  visit  of  the  whole  Board,  with  their  invited  guests,  to 
each  school  in  succession,  with  a  systematic  record  of  the  re- 
sults in  the  minutes.  The  citizens  generally  were  also  invited 
to  visit  and  inspect  the  schools,  and  an  invitation  was  extend- 
ed to  all  who  were  disposed  to  do  so  to  come  in  and  "  learn 
the  system  "  with  a  view  to  teaching  it  elsewhere. 

In  August,  1820,  at  the  united  request  of  the  teachers,  the 
first  vacation,  extending  through  three  weeks,  was  granted, 
and  continued  to  be  given  annually  by  resolution  for  several 
years  before  becoming  an  established  part  of  the  by-laws. 

The  year  1821  was  marked  by  no  event  of  importance, 
except  the  opening  of  the  new  school-house  No.  3,  and  an 
earnest  though  unsuccessful  effort  for  a  law  levying  a  special 
tax  upon  the  city  and  county,  and  raising  $5000  a  year  for 
ten  years,  for  the  purpose  of  building  five  additional  school- 
houses.1  The  next  year,  however,  is  rendered  memorable  in 
the  history  of  public  education  in  this  city,  by  the  opening  of 
the  first  serious  controversy  in  regard  to  the  distribution  of 
the  school  money  to  religious  sectarian  schools,  a  settlement 
not  being  effected  till  after  much  excitement  and  the  lapse  of 
two  or  three  years.2  An  important  step  in  increasing  the 
direct  influence  exerted  by  the  trustees  upon  the  efficiency  of 
the  several  schools  was  also  taken,  in  the  assignment  of  each 
member  of  the  Board  to  one  of  five  "  sections,"  one  for  each 
school-house,  No.  5,  in  Mott  Street,  having  been  opened  on 
the  28th  of  October ;  and,  girls  being  now  admitted  in  both 

be  paid  for  each  license,  together  with  all  fines  incurred,  should  he  equally  di- 
vided between  the  Free  School  Society  and  the  new  Asylum  for  Deaf  Mutes, 
which  had  begun  with  four  pupils  in  1817.  Four  lotteries  gave  the  free  schools 
$1000  the  first  year,  and  they  had  $1500  additional  from  the  excise. 

1  The  city  contained  at  this  time  about  130,000  inhabitants.    Its  real  estate 
was  assessed  at  $50,019,720,  and  its  personal  property  at  $17,666,350:  total, 
$68,286,070.     Total  taxes  for  1821  were  $299,225.     It  was  proposed  to  add 
one-sixtieth  to  this  amount. 

2  This  will  be  considered  more  at  length  in  the  section  on  the  Religious 
Question. 


36  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

No.  1  and  No.  2,  five  committees  of  ladies  were  nominated, 
and  invited  to  inspect  the  several  schools  at  their  discretion, 
and  to  furnish  a  quarterly  report  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  on 
such  points  and  with  such  suggestions  as  they  might  think 
proper,  the  sections  themselves  also  reporting  quarterly  to 
the  general  Board.  For  some  reason  which  does  not  appear 
in  the  records  of  the  Society,  the  plan  of  securing  the  assist- 
ance and  counsel  of  the  ladies  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
successful.  The  Board  also  appointed  a  special  committee 
of  their  own  body,  to  correspond  with  parties  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Europe,  to  gather  information  in  regard  to  ele- 
mentary instruction,  and  especially  in  relation  to  the  means 
found  most  effectual  in  reaching  the  children  of  the  poor, 

An  important  proposition  for  dividing  the  city  into  school 
districts  was  also  reported  upon  and  then  debated,  it  being 
the  intention  of  the  advocates  of  the  measure  to  establish 
definite  boundary -lines,  restricting  the  attendance  of  the  pu- 
pils to  the  school-houses  situated  in  their  respective  districts. 
The  final  decision  was  adverse  to  the  proposition,  the  uni- 
form policy  of  the  Board  being  to  locate  new  schools  so  as 
best  to  accommodate  the  steadily  increasing  population. 
The  result  of  this  policy  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  present  or- 
ganization of  the  schools  of  the  city,  there  being  neither  ward 
nor  district  lines  for  pupils,  every  school  being  open  to  all 
citizens,  whether  residing  at  the  Battery  or  at  Kingsbridge. 


FEEE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  37 


VL 

FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
1834—1826. 

No.  6. — Improvement  in  Character  of  Attendance. — Visit  of  La  Fayette. — 
Bethel  Baptist  Church. — Proposition  to  introduce  "  Pay  Scholars." — San- 
guine Anticipations  as  to  the  Results, 

IN  1824,  the  Almshouse  having  been  previously  removed 
to  Bellevue,  the  Common  Council  invited  the  Society  to  re- 
sume at  that  place  its  care  of  the  pauper  children,  and  a  new 
school,  No.  6,  was  opened,  being  the  same  that  is  now  loca- 
ted on  Eandall's  Island. 

Several  circumstances  conspired  at  this  time,  with  all 
these  active  measures,  to  elevate  the  general  standing  of  the 
several  schools  of  the  Society,  and  to  render  them  more  truly 
the  schools  of  the  people.  The  withdrawal  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  pauper  children  from  No.  1  had  removed  the  natural 
objection  felt  by  many  parents  as  to  sending  their  children 
to  the  same  school,  and  the  vacated  seats  were  soon  filled 
with  a  better  class  of  pupils.  The  same  was  particularly  the 
case  with  No.  2,  to  which  a  teacher,  who  had  just  previous- 
ly taught  a  large  and  successful  private  school  in  the  same 
vicinity,  was  about  this  time  appointed,  leading  to  the  intro- 
duction of  many  of  the  children  of  his  former  patrons.  ^  No. 
3,  in  its  new  building,  and  under  the  efficient  management 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  was  highly  popular ;  No.  4  was  in  charge  of 
a  gentleman  whose  special  training  and  association  with  the 
fountain-head  of  Lancasterianism  gave  him  the  advantages 
of  a  high  reputation  ;  No.  5  had  been  intrusted  to  a  teacher1 
whose  powers  of  organization  and  firm  yet  gentle  character, 

1  Mr.  Joseph  Belden. 


38  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION". 

and  skill  in  teaching  penmanship,  soon  made  him  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  teachers ;  while  his  brother,1  who  had  been 
educated  to  the  medical  profession,  in  a  spirit  of  true,  self- 
devoting  philanthropy,  and  for  a  trifling  salary,  took  charge 
of  and  lived  with  the  neglected  little  ones  of  the  city's  charge 
at  Bellevue,  No.  6,  having  first  "  learned  the  system  "  for 
that  purpose  with  Mr.  Johnson  in  No.  3. 

The  exciting  controversy  with  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church 
and  several  other  Protestant  organizations  that  conjointly 
sought  the  distribution  of  the  school  money  to  sectarian 
schools,  had  also  done  much  to  attract  public  attention  and 
sympathy  to  the  schools  of  the  Society.3  This  was  still  fur- 
ther developed  in  a  skillful  and  somewhat  dramatic  way  on 
the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  La  Fayette  in  1824.  In  October 
of  that  year,  after  visiting,  in  company  with  state  and  city 
officials  and  other  distinguished  citizens,  the  school  No.  3, 
where,  besides  being  presented  with  a  certificate  of  member- 
ship of  the  Society,  he  was  addressed  by  one  of  the  pupils  in 
behalf  of  the  five  hundred  boys  and  two  hundred  girls  there 
assembled,  and  listened  to  a  poetic  address  by  a  class  of  girls 
in  concert,  the  illustrious  visitor  at  2  P.M.,  and  in  the  presence 
of  an  immense  and  delighted  multitude,  reviewed  the  chil- 
dren of  all  the  schools  of  the  Society,  assembled,  to  the  num- 
ber of  three  thousand  or  more,  in  the  City  Hall  Park,  officer- 
ed by  their  teachers  and  monitors,  and  bearing  banners  with 
appropriate  inscriptions,  conspicuous  among  which  was  one 
proclaiming  "Education  the  Basis  of  Free  Government."3 

The  popularity  and  manifest  progress  of  the  schools,  and 
the  principles  developed  in  the  discussions  incidental  to  the 
controversy  already  alluded  to,  together  with  a  proposition 
received  "from  a  number  of  middle-class  citizens"  to  be  al- 

1  Dr.  Charles  Belden,  who  died,  after  two  years'  service,  Aug.  5,  1825. 

a  See  section  on  the  Religious  Questions. 

8  A  sweet  little  girl  recited  an  appropriate  and  touching  poetic  address,  con- 
veying, in  the  name  of  the  children  of  America,  their  gratitude  to  this  friend 
and  associate  of  Washington,  and  ended  by  gently  laying  a  beautiful  floral  and 
laurel  wreath  on  the  revered  head  of  the  nation's  guest.  The  grave  and  affec- 
tionate kiss  bestowed  in  response  on  the  little  spokeswoman  touched  all  hearts. 


FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  39 

lowed  to  send  their  children  as  pupils  "  for  pay,"  seem  about 
this  time  to  have  suggested  to  the  trustees  the  expediency 
and  feasibility  of  essentially  changing  the  character  of  their  or- 
ganization. The  grand  idea  of  EDUCATION  AS  A  RIGHT  was  not 
yet  developed  except  in  the  minds  of  a  few  isolated  individ- 
uals. To  have  their  children  educated  without  direct  pay- 
ment was  by  very  many  felt  to  be  closely  akin  to  acknowl- 
edging themselves  paupers ;  a  notion  traces  of  which,  absurd 
as  we  know  it  to  be  in  the  present  condition  of  things,  still 
linger  in  some  benighted  minds  that  can  not  keep  pace  with 
the  grand  march  of  modern  democratic  ideas. 

The  Society  began  to  consider  the  possibility  and  propri- 
ety of  converting  their  schools,  excepting  No.  6,  into  pay 
schools,  so  as  to  conciliate  and  attract  those  who  were  not 
willing  to  accept  gratuitous  instruction  for  their  children, 
placing  the  rates  so  low  that  none  need  be  debarred,  at  the 
same  time  retaining  their  original  plan  of  "  no  pay  "  from 
those  whose  circumstances  did  not  permit  any  contribution 
whatever.  An  extensive  correspondence  with  schools  abroad 
was  immediately  opened,  and  a  great  amount  of  testimony 
collected,  setting  forth  the  excellent  results  which  had  arisen 
from  such  an  arrangement.1 

A  study  of  this  period  in  the  history  of  the  Society  is  of 
importance,  as  the  irrevocable  steps  which  were  finally  taken 
led,  however  reluctantly,  yet  by  an  unavoidable  necessity, 
through  their  unexpected  results,  to  broader  and  juster  views 
of  the  wants,  and  rights,  and  mutual  relations  of  all  classes 
of  society  in  the  matter  of  education.  The  results  of  the 
Bethel  Church  controversy  had  thrown  all  the  school  money 

1  The  Irish  Schools  for  the  Poor,  conducted  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  were 
in  great  part  supported  by  the  payment  of  a  penny  a  week,  and  similar  results 
were  reported  from  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society.  The  schools  of 
the  Female  Association  had  long  been  successfully  conducted  on  the  same 
principle  by  collecting  from  each  pupil  one  or  two  cents  a  week,  and  it  had 
only  been  abandoned  from  the  fear  of  losing,  in  consequence,  their  portion  of 
the  School  Fund.  The  largest  school  of  the  Manumission  Society  also,  in  the 
same  way,  had  once  been  nearly  able  to  pay  the  teacher's  salary. — Minutes,  3d 
of  March,  1825. 


40  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

into  their  hands  excepting  what  was  paid  to  the  "  Mechanics' 
Society,  the  Orphan  Asylum  Society,  and  the  Trustees  of  the 
African  Schools."  They  had  also  caused  a  school  census  of 
the  city  to  be  taken,  and  reported  about  four  hundred  pay 
schools  of  all  grades,  most  of  them  small  and  miserably  con- 
ducted, and  held  in  poorly -lighted  and  badly-ventilated  apart- 
ments, the  expense  per  scholar  being  several  times  as  much 
as  in  the  Free  Schools.'  They  therefore  felt  certain  that,  by 
revising  and  greatly  extending  their  course  of  study,  and  at 
the  same  time  asking  a  small  amount  of  pay  for  instruction, 
they  would  secure  the  patronage  and  personal  interest  of  a 
large  part  of  the  important  class  of  citizens  who  supported 
these  private  schools.  As  a  part  of  the  plan,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  consolidate  the  schools  of  the  Free  School  Society, 
the  Manumission  Society,  and  those  of  the  Female  Associa- 
tion, under  one  organization,  which  should  be  known  as  the 
"  Public  School  Society,"  and  receive  the  entire  amount  of 
the  school  money,  and  pay  over  to  the  Orphan  Asylum  and 
the  Mechanics'  Society  schools  their  usual  amount  per  pupil. 
Among  the  beneficial  results  anticipated  from  the  scheme 
they  especially  enumerate  "  a  more  truly  democratic  principle 
in  the  schools,  where  the  rich  and  the  poor  should  meet  to- 
gether;" "a  more  general  attention  to  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion by  the  citizens ;  harmony  among  religious  sects ;  that 
all  citizens  would  contribute,  and  be  entitled  to  the  benefits ; 
a  great  increase  in  the  amount  expended  for  public  instruction, 
and  a  greater  economy  secured  by  having  the  disbursements 
all  made  through  the  same  channel  j1  a  uniform  system  in  all 
elementary  schools,  and  therefore  no  loss  by  removals  to  oth- 
er parts  of  the  city,"  and  more  especially, "  the  cultivation  of 
a  proper  feeling  of  independence  among  the  poor  and  labor- 
ing classes." 

1  They  anticipated  a  favorable  balance  of  $10,500  even  the  first  year.— 
Minutes,  3d  of  March,  1825. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  41 


VII. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
1826- 1827. 

Third  Charter,  and  new  Title. — Schools  become  Pay  Schools.— Preparations 
for  great  Increase  of  Attendance. —  No.  7. — No.  8. — No.  9. —  Establish- 
ment of  Executive  Committee.— Great  Extention  of  Course  of  Study. — 
Central  School. — Application  for  Assistants  refused. 

IN  furtherance  of  these  views,  an  application  was  made 
to  the  Legislature  for  another  alteration  of  their  charter, 
and  in  January,  1826,  they  were  authorized,  under  the  title 
of  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY,  to  receive  pupils  at  low 
rates  of  payment,  from  twenty -five  cents  to  two  dollars  per 
quarter — according  to  the  subjects  of  study  pursued.  The 
act  added  fifty  members  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the 
premium  of  membership,  which  had  been  raised  to  fifty  dol- 
lars in  1810,  was  reduced  to  ten  dollars,  so  as  to  greatly  en- 
large the  Society  itself,  and  induce  a  more  general  participa- 
tion of  the  citizens  in  school  affairs,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
give  more  facility  in  filling  the  increased  Board. 

More  school  buildings  were  at  once  provided,  so  as  to  ac- 
commodate the  expected  influx  of  the  new  and  popular  ele- 
ment. The  new  law  went  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1826  ;  the  same  day  a  new  building  was  opened  in  Chrystie 
Street,  and  organized  as  No.  7,  a  site  for  another,  to  be  known 
as  No.  8,  having  been  purchased  a  few  days  previously  in 
Grand  Street :  this  building  was  pushed  with  such  energy 
mt  on  the  1st  of  November  it  was  opened  for  the  admission 
or  pupils ;  two  additional  sites  were  also  procured  in  Woos- 
ter  and  Duane  Streets.  A  few  weeks  previous  to  the  change 
of  the  title  of  the  Society,  a  school  situated  in  a  rural  district 
of  the  island,  and  known  as  the  Bloomingdale  School,  was 


42  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION". 

transferred  to  their  care,  and  also  on  the  1st  of  May  was 
opened  as  No.  9.  This  school  was  accepted  somewhat  unwil- 
lingly, as  its  limited  numbers,1  and  the  character  of  its  loca- 
tion, indicated  that  it  would  long  continue  small,  and  pecun- 
iarily unprofitable.  It  had  been  opened,  and  for  years  chiefly 
sustained  by  public-spirited  and  charitable  residents  of  the 
vicinity,  and  had  passed,  by  a  natural  process,  to  the  care  of 
a  neighboring  church,  St.  Michael's  Protestant  Episcopal. 
The  ordinance  of  the  Common  Council  in  18252  had  deprived 
it  of  all  the  public  aid  it  had  hitherto  received,  the  funds  be- 
ing transferred  to  the  Public  School  Society.  For  some 
months  it  had  only  been  kept  from  disbanding  by  the  gen- 
erous efforts  of  a  young  collegian,  who  voluntarily  devoted 
to  it  all  his  spare  time. 

A  change  of  the  highest  order  of  importance  was  now 
made  in  the  general  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Board 
in  the  appointment  of  an  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of 
five  trustees  elected  by  ballot,  together  with  the  President, 
Yice-president,  Secretary,  and  Treasurer,  and  the  chairman  of 
each  of  the  several  local  sections,  "  with  power  to  appoint 
teachers  and  take  general  charge  during  the  recess  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees."  This  compact  and  energetic  body,  com- 
posed of  gentlemen  of  experience,  and  representing  all  inter- 
ests, soon  became  the  right  hand  and  working  power  of  the 
Board,  its  decisions  and  reports  seldom  failing  to  receive  the 
prompt  approval  of  that  body. 

In  the  internal  affairs  of  the  schools  also,  changes  quite  as 
important  took  place.  The  pay  system  was  introduced  as 
provided  by  law,  and  extensive  additions  made  to  the  course 
of  study.  ^  Up  to  this  period  the  subjects  taught  had  been 
simply  reading,  spelling,  writing,  mostly  on  slates,  and  the 
simple  elements  of  arithmetic;  a  few  only  of  the  more  ad- 
vanced pupils  being  reported  as  having  entered  reduction, 
rule  of  three,  and,  finally,  "  practice,"  which  seems  to  have  the 
extreme  limit  in  this  branch.  To  these  were  now  added,  after 
due  consultation  between  the  teachers  and  a  special  commit- 

1  2G  boys  and  22  girls.  3  See  Religious  Question. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  43 

tee,  a  higher  class  of  reading-books,  the  more  advanced  rules 
of  Arithmetic,  Mensuration,  Geography,  with  the  use  of  maps 
and  globes,  English  Grammar,  History,  Book-keeping,  Astron- 
omy, and  Khetoric.1 

Another  evidence  of  new  and  enlarged  views  was  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  committee  of  three,  to  consider  the  propriety 
of  establishing  a  "  Central  School  for  the  instruction  of  tutors 
and  monitors,  and  for  the  promotion  from  the  general  schools 
of  pupils  deserving  distinction."  A  special  meeting  to  hear 
their  report  was  held  on  the  6th  of  October,  1826,  and,  after 
long  and  full  discussion,  the  plan  as  presented  was  adopted, 
by  a  vote  of  sixteen  ayes  to  thirteen  nays.  Only  a  brief  out- 
line of  this  report  can  be  given,  They  assert  the  great  and 
permanent  importance  of  the  subject;  that  the  necessity  for 
such  schools  was  generally  acknowledged  by  intelligent  men, 
and  that  the  Legislatures  of  JSTew  York  and  Massachusetts 
have  recently  had  the  matter  under  consideration ;  that  a  suit- 
able building  was  wanted  to  accommodate  at  least  four  hun- 
dred students,  and  furnish  proper  rooms  for  the  meetings  of 
the  trustees  and  the  Society ;  "  the  course  of  study  should  be 
eminently  practical,  and  should  therefore  involve  a  due  pro- 
portion of  Natural  Philosophy,.  Practical  Mathematics,  Mer- 
cantile Arithmetic,  Book-keeping,  and  the  elements  of  Geology 
and  Chemistry ;"  that  the-  institution  should  be  "  conducted 
throughout  on  the  monitorial  system2  in  order  to  be  expedi- 
tious as  to  results ;"  it  would  furnish  at  least  one  hundred 
teachers  a  year  for  the  city  and  state ;  and,  finally,  that  its  ef- 
fect upon  the  "general  schools"  would  be  highly  beneficial 
if  they  were  made  the  sole  avenue  to  the  Central  School. 

1  The  list  of  books  recommended  by  the  committee  included,  for  the  seventh 
class,  Scripture  Lessons  and  Moral  Monitor;  the  eighth  class,  Murray's  Intro- 
duction, English  Eeader,  and  New  York  Reader  No.  3 ;    for  the  ninth  and 
highest  class,  Murray's  Sequel,  Power  of  Religion,  Historical  Reader,  Willet's 
Arithmetic,  Day's  Tables,  Hart's  Geography,  2d  Book  and  Atlas,  Tanner's 
Maps,  Goold  Brown's  Grammars,  Tytler's  History,  Bennet's  Book-keeping, 
Hawney's  Mensuration,  Blair's  Rhetoric,  and  Alvah  Clark's  Astronomy. — Min- 
utes of  1826. 

2  The  term  Lancasterian  henceforth  disappears  from  the  minutes. 


44  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

A  memorial  to  the  Legislature,1  asking  for  funds  to  carry 
out  the  new  project,  was  ordered  from  the  same  committee, 
who  were  directed  to  report  at  the  next  regular  meeting. 

Applications  having  been  made  for  appointments  as  as- 
sistants in  several  schools,  the  Executive  Committee  reported 
strongly  against  the  measure,  as  "abandoning  the  principle 
of  the  beautiful  system"  from  which  they  had  so  long  de- 
rived excellent  results,  and  "  they  hoped  to  meet  the  real  re- 
quirements of  the  schools  by  good  paid  monitors,"  of  whom 
they  anticipated  a  "  full  supply  from  the  better  class  of  chil- 
dren who  are  entering  the  schools."  A  report  as  to  the  ex- 
pediency of  appointing  a  "  General  Superintendent  or  Ex- 
ecutive Officer"  was  also  in  the  negative,  and  both  reports 
were  adopted  by  the  Board. 

J  This  portion  of  the  original  minutes  concludes  with  a  significant  line  : 
"N.B. — This  report  is  not  meant  for  the  Public." 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  45 


VIIL 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

1837-18S8. 

Failure  of  Pay  System. — Disastrous  Results. — Caste.  — Reports  of  Committee  of 
Investigation. — First  Result. — Poor  American  Citizens  will  not  be  consid- 
ered Paupers. — Second  Result. — Failure  of  the  One-teacher  System  of 
Lancaster. — Permanent  paid  Monitors-general. 

ALL  these  high  expectations  were  to  be  sadly  disappoint- 
ed, and  the  plans  from  which  such  advantages  were  antici- 
pated, to  result  only  in  disaster.  An  alarming  condition  of 
things  was  beginning  to  develop  itself,  and  threatened  to 
strike  from  under  the  Society  the  very  basis  of  its  existence 
— the' popularity  of  their  schools,  and  the  moral  support  of 
the  people.  In  their  comprehensive  scheme  they  had  made 
two  serious  miscalculations,  each  of  which  was  to  teach  a  les- 
son never  to  be  forgotten. 

Complaints  first  began  to  come  in  from  teachers  and  sec- 
tions as  to  unexpected  difficulties  in  collecting  the  tuition  fees, ) 
small  as  these  were.  Some,  having  never  before  paid,  were 
not  now  disposed  to  do  so,  and  withdrew  their  children  upon 
being  solicited  to  give  the  smallest  direct  contribution  to  the 
support  of  the  schools;  many  others  insisted  that,  as  the 
schools  derived  money  from  the  School  Fund  of  the  state, 
the  Society  could  have  no  right  to  enforce  further  payment 
from  individuals ;  that  is,  they  would  not  pay  twice.  Though 
some  came  in  from  the  private  "schools,  yet  their  number 
was  far  less  than  was  anticipated,  and  the  general  attendance 
rapidly  diminished.  Out  of  the  shrunken  register1  of  4654 

1  A  previous  report,  August  1,  1825,  gave  a  register  of  5919 ;  on  the  1st  of 
May,  1826,  the  very  day  the  new  law  went  into  operation,  it  had  already 
shrunk  to  4654. 


46  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

pupils,  no  less  than  1690  were  on  the  free  list;  while  of  the 
2874  who  were  nominally  pay  pupils,  a  large  part  of  the  par- 
ents paid  only  one  or  two  quarters  at  the  most,  so  that  their 
children  should  be  known  among  their  schoolmates  as  "  pay 
scholars,"  and  thereafter  evaded  all  further  demands.  As 
the  teachers  were  the  agents  for  the  collection  of  the  money, 
and  were  held  in  some  sort  responsible  for  their  proportion- 
ate amount,  they  were  more  or  less  urgent  in  their  efforts  to 
swell  the  income  of  the  Society,  and  unpleasant  altercations 
with  parents,  leading  to  the  withdrawal  of  pupils,  of  course 
resulted.1 

A  far  more  serious  evil,  and  one  fraught  with  most  dis- 
astrous consequences,  was  the  caste  spirit  at  once  introduced 
into  the  schools,  and  gathering  strength  from  day  to  day 
with  the  efforts  made  to  collect  the  money.  Children  who 
paid  looked  down  upon  those  who  did  not  or  could  not. 
Each  school  divided  itself  into  two  classes;  the  pride  and  as- 
sumption of  the  one,  and  the  mortification  and  indignation  of 
the  other,  intensified  as  both  were  by  the  keen  sensibilities 
and  imaginative  temperament  of  childhood,  being  a  fruitful 
source  of  disturbance  of  discipline  and  harmony  in  school, 
and  of  wrathful  and  disparaging  comment  by  the  sympathetic 
parents  and  friends  at  home.  The  Bom  an  Catholic,  the 
Episcopal,  Methodist,  and  other  churches  opened  wide  the 
doors  of  their  free  schools  to  the  dissatisfied  of  the  one  class, 
and,  by  establishing* cheap  pay  schools,  drew  off  large  num- 
bers of  the  other. 

The  carefully-selected  committee  of  investigation,  to  whom 
this  alarming  state  of  affairs  was  referred,  in  a  report  which 
they  promptly  rendered  to  a  full  meeting  of  the  Board,  give 
evidence  not  only  of  a  conflict  of  opinion  among  themselves, 
but  of  a  reluctance  on  the  part  of  some  of  its  members  to  ac- 
cept the  first  great  lesson  of  the  occasion.  In  presenting  their 
views  of  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  their  plan,  it  is  painful  to 

1  Comparative  statements  of  the  amounts  collected  in  the  different  schools 
appear  in  the  minutes,  and  must  have  been  felt,  in  some  cases,  as  reflecting 
npon  the  teacher. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  47 

find,  as  the  very  first  point  in  their  report,  a  curt  and  bitter 
allusion  to  the  existence  in  the  community  of  "  a  large  class 
of  persons  who  are  poor,  and  yet  too  proud  to  confess  it"  They 
had  yet  to  realize  that  it  was  the  legitimate  outgrowth  and 
evidence  of  that  free  and  healthful  democratic  spirit  that, 
even  in  the  poorest  of  our  citizens,  refuses  to  accept  an  in- 
ferior social  position  for  themselves  or  their  children  on  ac- 
count of  their  poverty,  and  which  causes  every  man  and 
every  woman,  whatever  their  previous  disadvantages,  and 
come  from  whatever  land  of  caste  and  tyranny  they  may,  to  • 
stand  erect  as  American  citizens,  and  demand,  as  their  "in- 
alienable right,"  a  recognition  of  their  possession  of  every 
attribute  and  characteristic  of  a  full  and  equal  manhood.  It 
was  but  a  form  of  that  spirit  of  freedom  which  instinctively 
refuses  to  accord  special  social  rights  or  consideration  to  mere 
wealth  or  the  accidents  of  birth,  and  which  realizes  that,  in 
our  system  of  society,  the  children  of  those  who  are  the  rich 
to-day  may  be  as  poor  as  the  poorest  to-morrow ;  and  that 
the  little  one  on  the  father's  knee,  though  supported  and  ca- 
ressed by  hands  stained  and  hardened  with  honest  toil,  may 
some  day  be  counted  among  those  whom  their  country  hon- 
-ors  with  its  most  sacred  trusts,  or  enshrines  in  its  most  grate- 
ful memories. 

Another  and  juster  train  of  thought  is  manifest  in  a  con- 
cluding part  of  their  report,  and  a  principle  is  stated  that 
went  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  and  beeanae,  after  a  year  or 
two  of  delay,  the  fundamental  idea  of  their  organization,  and 
the  living  source  of  their  expansion  and  progress:  "Your 
committee  believe  that  the  only  true  and  legitimate  system 
of  our  Public  Schools  would  be  to  open  our  doors  to  all 
classes  of  our  citizens  free  of  any  expense,  and  that  all  de- 
ficiencies should  be  defrayed  by  a  public  tax." 

The  second  lesson  derived  from  their  experience,  and  one 
which  they  were  slow  to  acknowledge,  was  a  revelation  of  a 
radical  weakness  in  the  machinery  of  the  monitorial  system, 
at  least  in  the  form  which  it  had  so  long  presented  in  New 
York.  So  long  as  reading,  writing,  and  the  simpler  rules  of 


48  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

arithmetic  constituted  the  whole  course  of  study,  with  proper 
energy  and  vigilance  in  their  single  teacher,  a  whole  depart- 
ment might  be  carried  on  in  a  mechanical  way,  and  a  certain 

.  sort  of  result  obtained.  But  as  soon  as  more  advanced 
studies  were  introduced,  involving  a  higher  mental  discipline, 
and  demanding  something  more  than  mechanical  ability  in 
the  teacher,  and  ability  to  read  from  the  monitor,  the  system 
at  once  broke  down. 

It  seems  incredible  too,  that  gentlemen  of  so  much  experi- 
ence could  have  thought  it  possible  for  one  man  or  one  wom- 
an to  superintend  all  the  various  old  grades  from  the  alpha- 
bet to  the  highest — receive  and  confer  with  the  trustees,  par- 
ents, and  other  visitors  to  a  school  sometimes  numbering  five 
hundred  pupils — collect,  receipt  for,  and  pay  over  the  many 
small  sums  demanded — keep  the  usual  minute  record  of  the 
pupils'  names,  ages,  promotions,  and  the  occupation  and  resi- 
dence of  their  parents — look  after  the  absentees — maintain  in 
the  department  that  peculiar  discipline  the  very  foundation  of 
which  was  undivided  attention  and  unremitting  vigilance — 
and  at  the  same  time  take  up  and  teach  the  new  studies  of 
geography,  astronomy,  grammar,  history,  and  book-keeping-, 
and,  besides  so  heavy  a  drain  on  the  energies  of  any  one 
who  should  attempt  to  carry  out  such  a  programme,  to  re- 
quire that  the  best  half  of  Saturday  should  be  added  to  the 
full  five  days  previously  required,  and  all  without  any  addi- 
tional compensation. 

It  needed  no  prophet  to  predict  the  result.  For  these 
higher  studies,  necessarily  demanding  so  large  a  part  of  the 
teacher's  time,  and  forcing  him  to  neglect  a  large  part  of  his 
school,  the  charge  was  two  dollars  a  quarter.  The  first 
quarter  107  paid ;  the  next,  78  ;  the  third,  only  13 ;  the  total 
income  from  this  source,  from  which  so  much  had  been  ex- 
pected, being  only  $318,  while  the  outlay  for  maps  and  globes 

.  alone  was  at  least  $800,  besides  other  new  expenses. 

Besi'des  the  statement  of  the  important  principle  already 
referred  to,  and  which  is  first  and  prominent  in  their  list  of 
remedies,  the  committee  recommended  certain  modifications 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  49 

which  they  hoped  would  restore  things  to  a  satisfactory  con- 
dition. Both  the  monitorial  and  the  pay  system  were  retain- 
ed, the  charges  being  reduced  to  one-half — only  the  old  "stud- 
ies were  to  be  pursued  except  as  a  reward  of  merit ;"  Satur- 
day should  be  again  a  holiday,  and  teachers  should  receive  a 
special  allowance  for  all  over  a  certain  number. 

In  regard  to  the  "  Central  School "  the  times  were  evident- 
ly not  propitious,  and  their  committee  asked  to  be  discharged, 
"  not  being  ready  to  report,"  while  the  question  as  to  a  su- 
perintendent is  not  further  heard  of. 

Although  reporting  against  the  employment  of  assistant 
teachers,  the  Executive  Committee  acknowledged  the  neces- 
sity of  more  efficient  and  regular  help  than  had  heretofore 
been  given  by  the  casual  monitors  paid  by  the  week,  and 
asked  for  and  obtained  the  power  to  appoint  two  permanent 
paid  monitors  to  each  department  ;x  and  although  these  were 
only  advanced  pupils  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  years  of  age 
already  trained  in  the  various  duties  of  monitorship,  they 
soon  became,  notwithstanding-  their  title,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  assistants ;  the  chief  oversight  and  management  of  v 
the  monitorial  part  of  the  department  falling,  in  a  few  years, 
into  their  hands,  and  allowing  the  principal  to  perform  for 
the  advanced  classes  the  ordinary  duties  of  a  teacher. 

1  Two  boys,  combined  salaries,  $300 ;  two  girls,  combined  salaries,  $200. 
This  was  the  maximum.     The  usual  salary  for  the  first  year  was  $25. 

D 


50  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


IX. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 

182S-18S9. 

Infant  School  Society. — Junior  Department  in  No.  8. — Infant  Department  in 
No.  10. — Comparison  of  the  two  Systems. — Lancaster  vs.  Pestalozzi. — 
Absurd  Conceptions  of  Pestalozzianism. — Rejection  of  Lancasterianism 
for  Infant  Pupils. 

ABOUT  this  period  another  innovation  in  education  began 
to  develop  itself  in  New  York,  leading  in  time  to  most  radi- 
cal changes.  Originating  at  nearly  the  same  time  with  the 
systems  of  Bell  and  Lancaster,  Pestalozzianism  was  much 
more  liable  to  perversion  and  misapplication,  because  far 
more  philosophical  in  its  fundamental  principles,  and  requir- 
ing in  the  teacher  abilities  the  very  farthest  from  mechanical. 
Its  methods  and  principles,  already  widely  adopted  in  Eu- 
rope, were  but  vaguely  understood  or  appreciated,  and  had 
made  but  slow  progress  in  America.  Early  in  1827,  an  as- 
sociation of  ladies  was  formed  in  New  York,  under  the  title 
of  the  Infant  School  Society,  Mrs.  Joanna  Bethune  being  the 
First  Directress.  Similar  societies  were  organized  in  Boston 
and  Charleston  in  1828,  other  cities  rapidly  following.  With 
much  that  was  sound  in  principle  and  excellent  in  practice, 
these  schools  presented  some  features  which  now  seem  not  a 
little  absurd. 

In  London,  New  York,  and  Charleston,  the  ages  of  the 
children  ranged  from  two  to  six  years;  in  Boston,  from 
eighteen  months  to  four  years.  From  two  to  six  cents  per 
week  were  usually  demanded ;  two  sessions  of  at  least  three 
hours  each  were  held  each  day;  vaccination  was  required 
before  admission ;  several  female  teachers,  usually  two,  were 
employed  in  each  school ;  and,  the  children  being  taught  in 
masses,  the  monitorial  system  was  not  used. 


PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  51 

Up  to  this  time  all  the  various  grades,  from  the  abece- 
darian of  the  sand-class  to  the  highest,  were,  in  the  Public 
Schools,  taught  in  one  department;  but,  stimulated  by  the 
success  of  the  Infant  Schools,  the  Society  now  ventured  upon 
the  experiment  of  separating  the  younger  children,  both  boys 
and  girls,  from  the  older  pupils,  at  the  same  time  admitting 
infants.  A  trial  of  this  plan  was  made  in  the  basement  of 
'No.  8  by  organizing  therein  a  "Junior  Department,"  in  charge 
of  a  female  principal,  assisted  by  a  paid  monitress.1  Children 
of  three  years  and  even  younger  were  admitted,  the  numbers 
soon  reaching  300  or  more.  Apparently  not  even  question- 
ing the  superiority  of  the  Lantasterian  system  for  such  a 
school,  this  experimental  department  was  organized  by  the 
trustees  on  their  favorite  plan. 

Meanwhile  the  ladies  of  the  Infant  School  Society,  had  or- 
ganized a  school  of  about  170  pupils  in  Canal  Street  and  upon 
the  Pestalozzian  system  as  they  understood  it.  The  intro- 
duction of  singing,  especially  of  lively,  pleasant,  and  appro- 
priate songs  for  little  children,  the  variety  in  the  exercises,  the 
discarding  of  books  and  lesson-boards,  and  the  substitution  of 
oral  teaching,  partly,  though  not  intelligently,  objective,  soon 
made  the  system  highly  popular ;  while  the  tender  age  of 
the  little  ones,  and  their  manifest  interest,  aroused  the  warm- 
est sympathies.  The  matter  soon  arrested  the  attention  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  Public  Schools,  and  several  successive 
committees  were  appointed  in  1827  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
specting this  school,  and  yet  another  in  Greene  Street,  and 
comparing  the  results  with  those  obtained  in  the  new  Junior 
Department  in  No.  8. 

Whatever  the  previous  convictions  of  these  gentlemen, 
their  reports  were  all  greatly  in  favor  of  the  new  system ; 
and,  in  order  more  thoroughly  to  test  its  merits,  an  Infant 
Department  was  opened  in  the  basement  of  No.  10  in  May, 
1828,  and  the  counsel  and  assistance  of  the  ladies  of  the  In- 
fant School  Society  solicited  in  its  organization  and  super- 

1  Naomi  H.  Reynolds  and  J.  C.  Andrews,  the  first  public  primary  teachers, 
appointed  1827,  at  $200  and  $75,  respectively. 


52  HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

vision.  They  accordingly  appointed  a  committee  for  the 
purpose,  who  were  of  great  service ;  the  only  disadvantage 
being  such  as  would  naturally  arise  from  the  school  and 
teachers  having  two  independent  sets  of  governors. 

When  time  enough  had  been  allowed  to  develop  the  re- 
sults, a  committee  was  again  appointed  to  compare  the  In- 
fant Department  No.  10  with  the  Junior  No.  8.  The  re- 
port was  to  the  same  effect  as  before,  and  proclaimed  that 
the  monitorial  plan  had  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and 
found  wanting.  In  their  opinion,  it  was  "  too  dull  and 
monotonous  for  the  infant  mind,  while  the  other  presented  a 
judicious  admixture  of t  amusement  and  instruction;  that 
since  fully  one-third  of  all  the  children  in  the  schools  of  the 
Society  were  between  the  ages  of  four  and  six,  the  adoption 
of  the  system  was  highly  desirable ;  that  an  inordinate 
amount  of  time  was  spent  under  the  monitor  in  the  sand- 
class  or  the  draft  in  learning  to  print  or  to  decipher  a  single 
letter,  or  to  spell  a  few  unmeaning  syllables;"  adding  the  sur- 
prising alternative,  that  "  the  time  might  better  be  employed 
in  conveying  to  their  minds  some  of  the  simplest  notions  of 
geography,  astronomy,  and  natural  history,  and  in  exercising 
their  memories  with  some  of  the  simplest  facts  of  history,  and 
matters  of  information  in  common  life ;  all  of  which  may  be 
done  by  an  intelligent  person  in  a  style  of  conversation,  by 
aid  of  a  few  pictures  and  other  materials  for  illustration."1  | 

1  This  sort  of  perversion  and  misconception  of  the  methods  and  principles 
of  Pcstalozzi  was  by  no  means  confined  to  New  York  or  to  America,  nor  is  it 
yet  entirely  without  remaining  traces ;  and  the  trustees  may  well  be  excused 
for  greatly  preferring  even  so  unphilosophical  a  system,  with  its  many  redeem- 
ing features,  to  the  mindless,  musicless,  and  dull  monotony  of  the  monitorial 
system,  which  it  partly,  and  should  have  completely  supplanted. 

In  all  parts  of  the  country  the  highest  commendation  was  bestowed  upon 
this  perverted  Infant  School  system  by  men  of  high  culture  and  social  position, 
although  it  is  a  relief  to  find  it  stated  in  one  of  the  commendatory  reports  of  the 
Public  School  Society  that  "many  intelligent  and  benevolent  persons  look  upon 
such  infant  schools  as  the  temporary  effect  of  a  mistaken  philanthropy."  The 
Charleston  Report  for  1829,  after  stating  that  none  will  be  admitted  till  they 
can  walk  alone,  gives  the  general  impression  produced  at  the  time  by  these 
schools  in  exclaiming,  "How  delightful  it  is  to  hear  these  little  one's  lisping 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  53 

Another  conclusion  stated  in  their  report  refers  to  a  mat- 
ter which,  however  trite  it  now  is,  was  practically  a  revolu- 
tionary novelty  in  the  schools  of  our  city,  and  marks  the 
progress  they  were  steadily  making  toward  a  better  state  of 
things.  "Your  committee  are  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that, 
in  general,  female  teachers  are  much  better  calculated  than 
male  teachers  for  the  instruction  of  small  children  of  both 
sexes." 

In  consequence  of  the  report,  a  resolution  was  passed, 
changing  the  title  of  Junior  and  Infant  Departments  to  Pri- 
mary Departments,  and  looking  to  the  final  establishment  of 
schools  like  that  in  No.  10  in  the  basements  of  all  the  build- 
ings of  the  Society.  The  condition  of  their  financear,  how- 
ever, and  the  necessity  of  providing  more  new  buildings,  to- 
gether with  a  legal  difficulty  as  to  spending  the  school  money 
in  the  tuition  of  such  young  children,  delayed  the  measure 
for  several  years. 

Another  important  inroad  into  Lancasterian  plans  was  the 
abolition  of  its  peculiar  and  distinctive  system  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  which  was  based  upon  the  award  or  forfeit- 
ure of  tickets  of  merit  having  a  certain  pecuniary  value,  and 
exchangeable  for  toys,  knives,  etc. 

knowledge  much  beyond  their  early  age, were  they  not  taught  on  the  plan  pur- 
sued," etc.,  and  the  Boston  Report  for  the  same  year  has  similar  testimonials 
as  to  "astonishment  and  delight  at  their  progress." 


54  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION". 


X. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
18S9-183S. 

Efforts  to  abolish  the  Pay  System  and  establish  true  Free  Schools. — Origin  of 
the  half-mill  Tax.— School  Census.— Grant  of  one-fourth  of  the  Tax  asked 
for. — Efforts  for  the  Remainder. — Common  Council  demands  Control. — 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum. — Tax  granted,  and  Asylum  admitted  to  par- 
ticipate. 

THE  unsatisfactory  and  evil  effects  of  the  pay  system,  even 
in  the  modified  form  in  which,  for  a  year  or  two  it  had  been 
continued,  at  last  led  to  a  complete  change  of  policy.  Profit- 
ing by  their  varied  experience,  the  trustees  from  this  time 
forth  boldly  advocated  a  general  school- tax  of  sufficient  mag- 
nitude to  furnish  a  generous  support  for  the  schools,  the  throw- 
ing open  the  doors  to  all  citizens  as  a  matter  of  right,  and  not 
of  charity,  and  such  a  modification  of  the  course  of  study  as 
should  offer  for  every  man's  children  the  best  attainable  En- 
glish education.  After  a  series  of  interesting  propositions, 
reports,  and  debates,  in  which  their  views  took  definite  and 
practical  shape,  a  bold  and  vigorous  address  was  issued  to 
their  fellow-citizens,  abounding  with  advanced  ideas,  and 
proposing  a  plan  for  carrying  them  into  effect.1  After  pre- 
senting school  statistics  and  plans,  and  referring  to  the  steady 

1  A  synopsis  is  subjoined :  After  quoting  from  a  recent  address  of  the  May- 
or of  Boston,  "Every  school,  the  admission  to  which  is  grounded  on  acquire- 
ments not  easily  attained  by  the  children  of  the  whole  community,  must  be  con- 
sidered as  for  the  benefit  of  the/ew,  and  not  of  the  many.  The  standard  of  pub- 
lic education  should  be  raised  to  the  greatest  height,  but  it  should  be  effected 
by  raising  the  standard  in  the  Common  Schools :"  they  go  on  to  say  that  no  part  of 
the  state  has  more  means,  and  in  no  part  is  public  instruction  so  imperatively 
demanded— that  the  ratio  of  pupils  in  schools  of  all  kinds  to  the  whole  popula- 
tion varied  from  one  to  five  to  one  to  three  in  other  portions  of  the  state,  while 
in  the  city  it  was  as  low  as  one  to  seven— that  of  a  school  population  of  over 
52,000,  nearly  or  quite  25,000  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen  attended  no 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  55 

increase  of  immigration  and  the  importance  of  general  intel- 
ligence in  this  city  to  the  affairs  of  the  state  and  the  nation, 
it  adds:  "In  other  countries  it  may  be  justly  thought  dan- 
gerous to  their  present  rulers  to  enlighten  the  people.  But 
with  us  the  question  of  their  political  power  is  settled ;  and, 
if  they  are  true  to  themselves,  it  is  settled  forever.  We  wish 
to  keep  that  power  in  their  hands,  and  to  enable  them  to  ex- 
ercise it  with  wisdom.  The  laboring  classes  have  justly  been 
called  the  backbone  and  sinews  of  the  republic.  It  is  not 
enough  that  they  know  how  to  read  and  write  and  cast  ac- 
counts. "We  wish  to  provide  them  better  excitements  than 
they  now  have.  "We  wish  them  to  enjoy  the  pleasures,  as 
well  as  the  other  advantages  of  intellectual  occupation.  "We 
wish  them  to  be  able  to  understand  and  admire  the  benefi- 
cence of  the  Creator  in  the  works  of  his  hands.  ^We  wish 
them  to  feel  that  virtue  is  the  first  distinction  among  men, 
and  knowledge  the  second;  and  to  be  themselves  the  great 
exemplar  of  these  truths.'^ 

It  was  therefore  of  the  'first  importance  that  the  Public 
Schools  should  be  made  desirable  to  every  class  in  the  com- 
munity ;  and  one  of  the  most  important  uses  they  could  pos- 
sibly subserve,  would  be  to  break  down  at  the  very  outset  of 
life  that  separative  caste  spirit,  which  under  whatever  form  or 
specious  pretext  it  may  present  itself,  is  ever  the  deadly  en- 
emy of  practical  democracy.  In  regard  to  the  proposed  tax, 
"  "We  submit  to  the  liberal  consideration  of  the  rich  whether 

school  whatever;  and  supposing  one-half  of  them  to  be  employed,  there  were 
still  from  12,000  to  13,000  who  should  be  in  school,  exclusive  of  infant  pupils — 
that  the  proper  order  of  claims  had  been  too  long  inverted,  the  sick  and  the 
destitute  not  having  higher  claims  than  ignorant  youth — and  that  good  schools 
are  the  very  foundation  of  democratic  society.  They  must  offer  higher  rewards 
for  qualified  teachers,  propose  infant  schools  for  children  from  three  to  six, 
and  recommend,  1st,  one  or  more  high  schools,  teaching  all  branches  necessary 
for  an  active  business  life ;  2d,  a  classical  school ;  3d,  a  seminary  for  the  ed- 
ucation of  teachers  for  common  schools  ;  and,  lastly,  a  half-mill  tax  to  carry- 
out  these  measures. 

1  It  was  probably  the  last  effort  of  the  noble  spirit  that  had  so  long  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  Society,  and  does  full  justice  to  his  broad  and  liberal  states- 
manship. Clinton  died  suddenly  soon  after. 


56  HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

their  contribution  would  not  be  a  profitable  investment* for 
their  children,  and  whether  their  bonds  and  mortgages  and 
public  stocks  are  altogether  beyond  the  reach  of  public  opin- 
ion, and  of  that  which  must  ultimately  depend  upon  public 
opinion,  the  administration  of  the  laws" 

Promptly  following  up  the  good  effects  of  this  address,  the 
trustees  set  on  foot  among  the  citizens  a  petition  to  the  Legis- 
lature asking  for  a  tax  of  a  half-mill  on  the  dollar  of  assessed 
city  property,  which  was  signed  by  nearly  five  thousand  of 
the  most -respectable  citizens,  comprising  the  names  of  a  large 
part  of  the  tax-paying  community.  The  plan  was  formally 
adopted  by  the  Common  Council,  who  memorialized  for  the 
tax,  though  not  to  the  extent  asked  for  by  the  petitioners ; 
and  a  law,  levying,  not  four-eightieths,  but  one-eightieth  of  one 
per  cent.,  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  the  session  of  1829. 
Though,  by  the  refusal  of  three-fourths  of  the  amount  asked 
for,  their  plan  was  shorn  of  many  of  its  best  features,  espe- 
cially the  higher  and  normal  schools,  and  the  total  abolition 
of  the  pay  system,  the  trustees  were  enabled  to  advance  mate- 
rially the  character  of  their  schools  and  prepare  the  way  for 
further  progress.  In  this  they  were  also  assisted  by  an  act 
giving  power  to  mortgage  their  real  estate,  and  legalizing 
other  loans  to  the  amount  of  $70,000,  which  in  the  same  form 
had  been  found  necessary  to  the  support  and  expansion  of 
their  schools. 

While  the  subject  of  the  tax  was  still  pending,  a  school 
census,  more  complete  in  its  results  than  any  previous  one, 
was  taken  by  direction  of  the  Common  Council.  It  was 
thus  ascertained  that  11,000,  or  nearly  two-thirds  of  the 
whole  number  in  private  schools,  were  of  nearly  an  equal 
grade  as  to  advancement  with  those  in  the  Public  Schools, 
the  cost  in  the  latter  being  much  less  than  even  in  the  worst 
description  of  the  former,  and  with  far  greater  sanitary  and 
disciplinary  advantages.  All  the  essential  facts  were  fully 
laid  before  the  community  in  the  public  prints,  and  in  the 
annual  reports  of  the  Society.1 

1  An  abstract  is  submitted  for  compnrison.     Sec  Table  on  page  .r>7. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 


57 


After  two  years,  the  Board  again  early  in  1831  applied  to 
the  Common  Council  for  another  memorial  to  the  Legislature 
asking  for  the  remaining  three-eightieths  T)f  one  per  cent,  tax, 
so  as  to  meet  the  original  proposition  of  the  5000  memorial- 
ists of  1829.  The  Corporation  complied  with  the  request,  but 
inserted  into  the  memorial  a  clause  providing  that  this  ad- 
ditional three-eightieths  of  one  per  cent,  "shall  be  and  re- 
main under  the  immediate  and  sole  control  of  the  Common 
Council."  This  was  a  new  and  unexpected  phase  of  diffi- 
culty. An  earnest  memorial  of  remonstrance  was  presented 
to  the  Common  Council,  reciting  in  brief  outline  the  history 
of  the  Society,  the  important  controversy  in  regard  to  r& 
ligious  sectarian  schools  which  they  supposed  had  reached  a 
final  settlement  in  1825,  and  the  impropriety  of  the  demand 
of  the  Corporation  in  view  of  the  fact  that  its  members  were 
all  ex  officio  members  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  the 
mayor  and  recorder  of  the  Board  of  Trustees;  and  further, 
that  they  now  and  for  many  years  had  held  all  reasonable 


ABSTRACT  OK   SPECIAL   SCHOOL  CENSUS  OF   1829. 


PEIVATK 

SCHOOLS. 

INCORPORA- 
TED SCHOOLS. 

CHARITY 
SCHOOLS. 

PtTHLiu 
SCHOOLS. 

5 

Number  

430 

3 

19 

It 

4C3 

Principal  Teachers  

432 

6 

.  25 

21 

484 

Assistants  

259 

23 

5 

24 

311 

From  4  to  5  Years  of  Age  

1,013 

33 

1ST 

1,243 

From  5  to  15    "           "   

13,631 

1,008 

2,207 

6,007 

22,943 

Above  15          ««           " 

676 

40 

50 

766 

Attend  Sunday  Schools 

4,489 

168 

970 

3  808 

9  435 

First  Elements  

6,907 

220 

2,430 

6,0:)7 

15,564 

Geography,  Grammar,  and  Arithmetic..  . 
Higher  Branched  

7.214 
1,869 

841 
270 

960 
15 

475 

9,490 
2,154 

Mathematics 

492 

52 

12 

556 

Dead  Languages  

442 

48 

1 

491 

Foreign  Languages 

850 

141 

4 

925 

Males  

7922 

633 

1  305 

3,112 

12,972 

Females  .... 

7  398 

448 

1  239 

2  895 

1  1  ,980 

Whole  Number  of  Pupils  

15320 

1  081 

2,544 

6,007 

24,952 

Male  Teachers 

339 

14 

9 

23 

385 

Female  Teachers  

352 

15 

21 

22 

410 

Of  the  430  private  schools,  6  were  for  colored  children,  3  of  them  reported 
as  "excellent;"  only  52  private  schools  not  elementary  ;  of  the  24,952  pupils, 
805  were  colored ;  and  there  were  about  one-twelfth  more  boys  than  girls. 


58  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

control  over  the  expenditures  and  distribution  of  school 
moneys  in  the  Commissioners  of  Common  School  Funds  of 
the  city  of  New  York — a  body  consisting  of  one  person  from 
each  ward,  appointed,  as  provided  by  law,  by  the  Common 
Council  itself,  to  receive  and  pay  over  the  moneys  as  direct- 
ed by  state  and  city  laws,  and  visiting  every  participating 
school  twice  in  each  year  to  see  that  all  legal  conditions  were 
complied  with. 

The  necessity  for  the  additional  tax  is  then  stated  in  ex- 
tenso,  and  their  alarm  at  the  unexpected  proposition  that  the 
proceeds  should  be  placed  under  sole  control  of  the  Common 
Council,  and  not,  as  with  the  rest  of  the  school  moneys, 
under  that  of  the  commissioners,  ending  with  a  cautious  ref- 
erence as  to  the  possible  motives  which  have  led  to  such 
a  proposition,  they  having  "no  conclusive  evidence  that  it 
is  intended  to  divert  the  proposed  tax  from  the  customary 
channels."  An  offer  was  also  made,  as  in  1825,  to  convey 
all  their  real  estate  to  the  Common  Council,  receiving  in  re- 
turn a  perpetual  lease  so  long  as  the  property  should  be  used 
for  school  purposes. 

While  this  matter  was  still  pending,  formal  application 
was  made  to  the  Common  Council  by  the  Eoman  Catholic 
Benevolent  Society  for  their  Orphan  Asylum,  and  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  behalf  of  their  charity 
schools  for  a  portion  of  the  school  funds.  After  much  ex- 
citement, the  matter  was  finally  settled  by  the  passage  of  an 
act  by  the  Legislature,  granting  the  additional  tax,  and  pro- 
viding for  its  distribution  in  the  usual  manner,  but  the  Asy- 
lum was  at  the  same  time  admitted  to  the  participation  for 
reasons  which  can  be  better  given  in  another  chapter.1 

1  See  Religious  Question. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  59 


XL 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
1832-1843. 

Final  Abolition  of  the  Pay  System. — More  Primary  Departments  opened. — 
Primary  Schools  established. — Assistant  Teachers  employed. — Course  of 
Study  extended. — Evening  Schools. — Transfer  of  Schools  of  Manumission 
Society. — Saturday  Normal  School. — Trustees'  Hall. — Financial  Embar- 
rassments.— Application  of  Catholic  Free  Schools  for  Participation  in  the 
School  Fund. — Exciting  Controversy. — Governor's  Message. — Act  of 
April  11,  1842,  extends  the  State  System  to  the  City. — Organization  of 
the  Board  of  Education. 

BEING  now  assured  of  sufficient  means,  the  trustees  com- 
menced with  energy  the  work  of  reforming  or  transforming 
their  system.  The  plan  of  payment  for  tuition,  which  in  the 
last  year  of  its  continuance  had  produced  only  $839,  was 
finally  abolished  February  3, 1832,  and  public  notice  given 
that  schools  were  now  open  to  all  as  a  common  right,  and 
that  every  effort  would  be  made  to  render  them  attractive 
and  desirable  to  all  classes  of  citizens.  A  full  year  was  spent 
in  preparing  for  and  introducing  the  necessary  changes,  the 
time  being  somewhat  extended  by  the  interruptions  resulting 
from  the  fearful  visitation  of  cholera. 

Primary  departments  similar  to  that  in  No.  10  were  open- 
ed in  various  schools  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  permitted. 
A  special  committee  having  visited  Boston  for  the  purpose  of 
inspecting  the  system  of  public  instruction,  and  especially  the/ 
Dame  Primary  Schools  in  that  city,  presented  a  report  which 
was  adopted  by  the  trustees,  recommending  a  new  order  of 
elementary  schools.  These  were  to  be  known  as  the  Public 
Primary  Schools  on  a  modification  of  the  Boston  plan,  and 
were  to  be  established  throughout  the  city,  each  ward  to  form 


60  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

a  primary  school  district,  with  such  subdivisions  as  might  be 
found  expedient.  The  large  and  expensive  buildings  owned 
and  occupied  by  the  Society  were  separated  by  wide  inter- 
vals, which  were  steadily  filling  with  a  denser  population.  It 
was  therefore  judged  expedient  to  hire  such  suitable  premises 
as  could  be  obtained,  and  thus  scatter  small  and  good  schools; 
so  that,  by  having  them  brought,  as  it  were,  to  their  own 
doors,  thousands  who  would  not  send  their  little  ones  to  the 
distant  Primary  Department  or  Public  School  would  be  in- 
duced to  let  them  attend  the  small  schools  in  their  immediate 
neighborhood.  No  step  ever  taken  by  the  Society  had  a 
more  beneficial  result.  It  added  greatly  to  their  popularity 
and  usefulness,  and  was  a  chief  source  of  their  financial 
strength  during  the  remaining  years  of  their  existence. 

The  several  classes  of  schools  were  now  to  be  known  as 
1st.  Public  Schools,  having  the  more  advanced  boys  and  girls 
in  separate  departments ;  2d.  Primary  Departments,  which 
were  the  modified  Infant  Schools;  3d.  Primary  Schools. 
As  the  plan  of  appointing  sections  could  not  well  be  applied, 
a  large  standing  committee,  known  as  the  Primary  School 
Committee,  was  appointed,  with  power  to  call  upon  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  for  teachers,  and  the  Supply  Committee 
for  the  necessary  material.  Each  Primary  School  was  to  be 
conducted  by  a  female  teacher  and  a  paid  monitress,  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  not  to  exceed  eighty ;  boys  admitted  from  four 
years  of  age  to  six ;  girls,  four  years  and  over.  The  course  of 
study  embraced  "  reading,  spelling,  and  writing,  with  the  sim- 
ple elements  of  arithmetic  and  geography,  to  be  taught  oral- 
ly, and,  as  far  as  possible,  with  visible  illustrations  by  means 
of  a  map  of  the  hemispheres,  numeral  frame,  and  black-board." 
A  modification  of  the  monitorial  system  was  introduced,  the 
monitor's  duties  devolving  chiefly  upon  the  teachers  them- 
selves. The  simultaneous  or  concert  system  was  largely  em- 
ployed. Both  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  schools  were  to 
make  regular  promotions  to  the  Public  Schools. 

In  consequence  of  this  step,  the  operations  of  the  trustees 
expanded  with  great  rapidity.  The  committee  were  at  first 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  61 

authorized  to  open  ten  schools  ;*  but  the  popularity  of  the 
measure,  as  indicated  by  the  promptness  with  which  these 
were  filled  and  even  overcrowded,  soon  led  to  arrangements 
for  ten  more,  followed  by  yet  others  ;  some  sixty  or  more  be- 
ing finally  opened,  many  61  them  with  numbers  far  beyond 
the  original  limit. 

Kadical  changes  took  place  in  the  upper  departments.  \ 
The  course  of  study  was  extended  so  as  to  include  astronomy,  I 
algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry,  and  book-keeping.  Profit- 
ing by  their  previous  experience,  an  assistant  teacher  was  now 
provided  in  addition  to  the  two  monitors  for  each  depart- 
ment, and  separate  recitation-rooms  built.2  The  principal  and 
his  assistant  were  chiefly  occupied  with  the  advanced  classes, 
while  the  lower,  under  a  form  of  the  monitorial  system,  were 
in  charge  of  the  paid  monitors.  The  salaries  of  the  sev- 
eral grades  of  teachers  were  at  the  same  time  somewhat  ad- 
vanced.3 

Applications  having  been  received  from  various  sections 
of  the  city  for  the  establishment  of  evening  schools  for  ap- 
prentices and  others,  the  trustees  took  the  matter  into  consid 
eration,  but  ascertained  from  the  legal  advisers  that  the  law 
gave  no  clear  right  so  to  expend  the  public  money,  and  that 
they  had  better  "  avoid  the  assumption  of  doubtful  powers." 
On  the  18th  of  January,  1833,  they  put  in  operation,  how- 
ever, a  plan  which  in  their  opinion  complied  with  the  advice 
received,  by  directing  "  that  evening  schools  for  apprentices 
and  others  be  opened  "  in  certain  buildings  belonging  to  the 
Society,  and  "  that  all  engagements  with  male  teachers,  assist- 
ants, and  monitors  are  to  include  a  condition  that  they  are  to 
teach  evening  school  if  ordered,  and  without  any  additional 
pay."  Several  principals  and  assistants  of  day  schools  were 

1  No.  1,  in  Orchard  Street,  opened  in  September,  1832. 

2  Though  often  asked  for,  these  had  been  refused  in  the  earlier  years  of  the 
Society. 

3  The  salary  of  the  male  principal  was  raised  from  $800  to  $1000,  of  the 
female  principal,  from  $350  to  $400.     The  maximum  for  each  of  the  others 
was  $GOO,  $200,  and  $100  in  the  male  department,  and  $250,  $100,  and  $50 
in  the  female  department. 


62  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

"  ordered  "  to  each  evening  school  as  associate  teachers,  and 
being  necessarily  peers,  there  was  no  real  head,  and,  conse- 
quently, no  efficient  discipline.  As,  under  the  circumstances, 
the  teachers  could  not  be  expected  to  take  much  interest  in 
their  work,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  report  of  the  next 
year  modestly  refers  to  these  schools  as  an  experiment ;  the 
next,  that  they  "  are  not  entirely  successful ;"  and  succeeding 
ones  "regret  the  smallness  of  their  numbers,  and  the  great 
difficulties  in  regard  to  discipline."1  After  a  few  winters  of 
forced  and  uncompensated  labor,  the  teachers  were  finally  re- 
lieved by  the  quiet  abolition  of  the  schools,  no  resolution  to 
that  effect  appearing  on  the  minutes. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1832,  the  managers  of  the  Manumis- 
sion Society,  whose  schools,  like  those  of  the  Public  School 
Society,' were  supported  by  the  public  funds,  applied  for  a 
committee  of  conference  to  effect  a  union.  It  was  felt  by  the 
trustees  that  on  many  accounts  it  was  better  that  the  two  sets 
of  schools  should  remain  separate ;  but  fearing  further  diver- 
sion of  the  school  fund,  it  was  desirable  that  the  number  of 
societies  participating  should  be  as  small  as  possible,  and  ar- 
rangements were  accordingly  made  for  a  transfer  of  the 
schools  and  property  of  the  elder  society.  After  some  delay, 
in  consequence  of  legislative  action  being  found  necessary  to 
give  a  title  to  their  real  estate,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1834,  the 
transfer  was  effected,  the  price  paid  being  $12,000.  An 
unexpended  balance  of  school  money,  amounting  to  about 
$9000,  was  also  transferred,  and  the  six  or  seven  African 
schools  were  placed  in  charge  of  a  special  committee,  with 
similar  powers  to  the  Committee  on  Primary  Schools,  and 
comprising  several  of  the  most  active  members  of  the  Manu- 
mission Society.3  The  aggregate  register  of  these  schools 
was  nearly  1400,  with  an  average  attendance  of  about  one- 
half  that  number.  Applications  were  also  made  by  the  man- 

1  Corporal  punishment  was  "  miscellaneously"  inflicted,  each  teacher  disci- 
plining his  own  class.  Those  familiar  with  evening  schools  may  easily  imagine 
the  occasional  result. 

2  The  Manumission  Society  continued  its  separate  existence  for  the  other 
objects  contemplated  in  its  constitution. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  63 

agers  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  the  Manhattanville,  Harlem, 
and  other  schools  in  the  upper  part  of  the  island ;  but  vari- 
ous objections,  legal  or  prudential,  prevented  a  similar  result. 

The  schools  of  the  Infant  School  Society,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  their  school  in  the  basement  of  No.  5,  the  schools 
also  of  the  Female  Association,  seem  to  have  been  silently  ab- 
sorbed into  the  Primary  Schools  and  Departments,  no  legis- 
lation being  necessary,  as  they  held  no  real  estate.1 

The  large  buildings  of  the  Society  were  now  fourteen  in 
number,  and  contained  three  departments  in  each.  Besides 
these,  were  the  numerous  Primary  Schools  and  Departments 
and  the  African  schools.  In  each  and  all  of  these  from  one 
to  two  monitors  were  employed,  all,  excepting  those  in  the 
male  departments,  being  females.  Appointed  at  a  very 
early  age,  usually  from  fourteen  to  fifteen,  but  in  many  cases 
in  the  primaries  even  younger,  they  were  cut  off,  by  the  ele- 
mentary nature  of  the  studies  committed  to  their  care,  from 
all  further  opportunity  for  systematic  advance  in  their  own 
scholarship.  Many  of  these,  developing  executive  abilities 
of  a  high  order,  were  in  time  promoted  to  the  position  of  as- 
sistant, or  even  of  principal,  in  the  primaries,  but  the  great 
advance  in  the  order  of  studies  precluded  their  appointment 
to  corresponding  positions  in  the  upper  departments  without 
greatly  increased  mental  culture. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  of  the  certainty  that  the  diffi- 
culty would  increase  with  the  numbers  of  the  schools,  the 
Committee  on  Teachers  and  Monitors,  which  was  a  sub-com- 
mittee of  the  Executive,  presented  on  the  1st  of  August, 
1834,  a  special  report  upon  the  subject.  In  accordance  with 
their  suggestions,  a  school  for  monitors  of  the  Primary  Schools 
and  Departments  was  opened  in  No.  5  on  Saturdays.  The 
sessions  were  five  hours  each,  and  the  studies  chiefly  those 
of  the  higher  classes  of  the  upper  schools;  though  soon 
called  a  Normal  School,  no  normal  instruction  was  given. 
Two  teachers,  both  of  whom  must  be  principals  in  the  Pub- 

1  The  school  in  the  basement  of  No.  5  continued  in  charge  of  the  Female 
Association  till  March,  1845. 


6tt  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

lie  Schools,  were  appointed  at  small  salaries ;  the  original  ar- 
rangement, which  seems  to  have  been  of  no  long  continu- 
ance, providing  that  the  school  should  have  a  female  princi- 
pal and  a  male  assistant.  The  attendance  was  compulsory, 
under  penalty  of  non-increase  of  salary,  loss  of  promotion,  or 
even  of  position.  The  beneficial  effects  being  soon  manifest, 
the  plan  was  extended  so  as  to  include  the  female  monitors 
of  the  upper  schools,  and  those  qualified  pupils  of  the  ninth 
class  of  girls  who  were  desirous  of  appointments.  A  similar 
school,  though  necessarily  on  a  smaller  scale,  was  opened  for 
the  monitors  of  the  male  departments,  and  a  third  for  the 
teachers  of  the  colored  schools. 

Up  to  184:1,  the  meetings  of  the  trustees  and  the  Society 
and  of  their  various  committees  had  been  held  in  a  part  of 
one  of  their  school  buildings  ;  but  their  widely  extended  and 
increasing  operations  requiring  a  permanent  location  and 
much  greater  facilities,  a  site  was  purchased  on  the  corner  of 
Grand  and  Elm  Streets,  and  a  suitable  building  erected,  with 
proper  office  conveniences,  a  room  for  the  meetings,  and 
others  for  the  Saturday  Normal  School  and  two  Primary 
Schools,  besides  a  "  Depository  "  for  the  storing  and  distribu- 
tion of  supplies  for  all  the  various  schools  of  the  Society.1 

Notwithstanding  the  apparent  removal  of  all  financial  diffi- 
culties by  the  grant  of  the  full  one- twentieth  of  one  per  cent,  by 
the  Act  of  1831,  the  trustees  again  found  themselves  embar- 
rassed. The  city  continued  to  expand  with  greater  rapidity 
than  ever,  and  more  and  more  schools  had  to  be  provided. 
The  Common  Council,  instead  of  advancing  the  sum  annual- 
ly raised  for  school  purposes  with  the  increasing  valuation  of 
property,  saw  fit  to  interpret  the  law  as  granting,  a  fixed  sum, 
equal  to  one-twentieth  of  one  per  cent,  on  the  assessed  value 
of  the  year  in  which  the  act  was  passed.  Some  of  those  who 

1  This  building,  now  the  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education,  has  since  been 
greatly  enlarged  and  improved,  and  is  the  central  point  in  the  management 
of  the  school  officers  of  the  city.  It  contains  the  offices  of  the  Clerk  and  Su- 
perintendent, and  meeting-rooms  of  the  Board,  embellished  with  the  portraits 
of  many  of  its  presidents,  together  with  those  of  De  Witt  Clinton  and  Geo. 
T.  Trimble,  the  first  and  last  presidents  of  the  Public  School  Society 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  65 

had  signed  the  original  petition  for  the  levy  of  the  special 
tax  now  claimed  that  they  had  understood  that  it  was  to  be 
levied  only  for  a  short  period.  Toward  the  close  of  1834  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  "  wished  to  be  informed  whether  it 
would  be  again  found  necessary  to  raise  a  similar  sum  to  that 
raised  last  year,"  and  also  if  the  trustees  were  now  ready  to 
convey  their  real  estate  to  the  Common  Council.  In  view 
of  the  apparent  desire  to  cripple  them  by  refusing  adequate 
means,  and  of  the  possibly  disastrous  result  of  another  con- 
troversy on  the  question  of  religion,  which  was  now  begin- 
ning once  more  to  present  itself,  the  trustees  did  not  deem  it 
expedient  to  comply  with  the  suggestion  as  to  the  property. 
In  1839,  having  become  more  and  more  embarrassed,  and  in 
order  to  secure  the  advantages  of  the  increased  value  of  city 
property,  they  made  a  vigorous  though  unsuccessful  attempt 
to  procure  the  passage  of  a  "  Declaratory  Act"  in  relation  to 
the  half-mill  tax. 

Early  in  1840  the  trustees  of  the  Catholic  Free  Schools 
made  application  to  the  Common  Council  to  be  allowed  to 
participate  in  the  school  funds.  The  large  and  influential 
body  of  citizens  whose  views  were  represented  in  this  applica- 
tion were  much  dissatisfied  with  many  things  in  the  internal 
condition  and  management  of  the  schools  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  "  a  gigantic  and  growing  monopoly,"  as  they  consid- 
ered it,  under  whose  sole  control  were  all  the  means  of  public 
instruction. 

"  It  was  alleged  that,  although  the  Society  belonged  to  no 
particular  religious  denomination,  and  although  it  did  not 
teach  directly  the  creed  of  any  particular  sect,  that  still  its 
schools  were  practically  sectarian,  and  that  its  books  and  in- 
struction had  so  strong  a  bias  in  favor  of  Protestantism,  that 
Eoman  Catholics,  who  were  by  universal  consent  entitled  to 
a  perfect  equality  of  rights,  could  not  conscientiously  send 
their  children  to  the  schools,  although  taxed  for  their  support. 
The  Society  offered  and  endeavored  to  make  their  books  ac- 
ceptable to  all,  but  an  excitement  of  feeling  had  arisen  which 
could  not  be  thus  allayed ;  the  subject  was  brought  before  the 

E 


66  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

Common  Council  again  in  1840,  and  discussed  with  extraor- 
dinary ability  on  all  sides.  It  was  thence  transferred  to  the 
Legislature  of  the  state  in  1841,  and  became  so  important  a 
question  of  state  policy  that  at  the  opening  of  the  session  of 
1842,  the  governor  in  his  annual  message,  after  stating  that, 
under  existing  circumstances,  twenty  thousand  children  in 
the  city  were  practically  unprovided  with  instruction,  pro- 
ceded  as  follows : 

"  { Happily  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  the  evil  is  discov- 
ered to  have  had  its  origin  no  deeper  than  a  departure  from 
the  equality  of  general  laws.  In  our  general  system  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  trustees,  chosen  by  tax-paying  citizens,  levy 
taxes,  build  school-houses,  pay  teachers,  and  govern  schools, 
which  are  subject  to  visitation  by  similarly -elected  inspect- 
ors, who  certify  the  qualification  of  teachers ;  and  all  schools 
thus  constituted  participate  in  just  proportion  in  the  public 
moneys,  which  are  conveyed  to  them  by  commissioners  also 
elected  by  the  people. 

*  ***** 

" '  I  submit,  therefore,  with  entire  willingness,  to  approve 
whatever  adequate  remedy  you  may  propose,  the  expediency 
of  vesting  to  the  people  of  the  city  of  New  York  what  I  am 
sure  the  people  of  no  other  part  of  the  state  would,  upon  any 
consideration,  relinquish — the  education  of  their  -children. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  only  necessary  to  vest  the  control  of 
the  Common  Schools  in  a  Board,  to  be  composed  of  commis- 
sioners elected  by  the  people,  which  Board  shall  apportion  the 
school  moneys  among  all  the  schools,  including  those  now  ex- 
isting, which  shall  be  organized  and  conducted  in  conformity 
to  its  general  regulations  and  the  laws  of  the  state  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  pupils  instructed.  It  is  not  left  doubt- 
ful that  the  restoration  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  city  of 
this  simple  and  equal  feature  of  the  Common  Schools  of  the 
state  would  remove  every  complaint. 

'"This  proposition  has  sometimes  been  treated  as  a  device 
to  appropriate  the  school  funds  to  the  endowment  of  semina- 
ries for  teaching  languages  and  faiths,  thus  to  perpetuate  the 


PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  67 

prejudices  it  seeks  to  remove — sometimes  as  a  scheme  for 
dividing  that  precious  fund  among  a  hundred  jarring  sects, 
and  thus  increasing  the  religious  animosities  it  strives  to  heal 
— sometimes  as  a  plan  to  subvert  the  prevailing  religion  and 
introduce  one  repugnant  to  the  consciences  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens, while,  in  truth,  it  simply  proposes,  by  enlightening 
equally  the  minds  of  all,  to  enable  them  to  detect  error  wher- 
ever it  may  exist,  and  to  reduce  uncongenial  masses  into  an 
intelligent,  virtuous,  harmonious,  and  happy  people.' 

"This  recommendation  of  the  governor  was  extremely 
unacceptable  to  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  this  city  ;  and 
had  it  not  proposed  to  preserve  the  schools  of  the  Public 
School  Society,  which  had,  deservedly,  the  confidence  and  af- 
fection of  so  large  a  number  of  the  citizens,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  popular  will  would  have  allowed  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  governor  to  go  into  useful  effect.  As  it  was,  how- 
ever, the  Legislature  adopted  the  views  of  the  executive,  and 
extended  by  law  into  this  city  the  Common  School  sj^stem, 
which  had  prevailed  for  thirty  years  in  the  residue  of  the  state, 
placing  the  management  of  the  schools  in  the  hands  of  inspec- 
tors, trustees,  and  commissioners  elected  by  the  people,  still  al- 
lowing the  Public  School  Society  and  other  corporations  to 
continue  their  existing  schools,  and  participate  in  the  public 
funds  according  to  the  number  of  their  scholars,  but  prohibit- 
ing  such  participation  to  any  school  in  which  any  religious 
sectarian  doctrine  or  tenet  shall  be  taught,  inculcated,  or  prac- 
ticed.'51 

Under  that  act,  passed  April  11, 1842,  the  first  BOARD  of 
EDUCATION  was  organized ;  and  it  now  remains  briefly  to  trace 
the  progress  of  the  two  organizations,  with  their  mutual  re- 
actions, during  the  ten  subsequent  years,  until  their  final  and 
harmonious  consolidation  into  one  great  system. 
1  Report  of  Board  of  Education  for  1853. 


68  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


XII. 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
184S-1853. 

Difficulties  of  the  New  System. — Great  Opposition. — Prejudice.— Contrasts  of 
the  two  Organizations. — Their  radical  Difference  in  Principle.— Direct 
Appeal  to  the  People.— Gradual  Development  of  the  Ward  Schools. — 
Teachers. — Amendment  to  the  Act.— Progress  of  the  Public  Schools.— 
High  School.— Beneficial  Reaction  of  Ward  Schools  on  Public  Schools. — 
Leads  to  rapid  Changes. — Financial  Difficulties  of  the  Society. — They 
can  establish  no  new  Schools. — Free  Academy  opened. — Its  Effects  on 
the  System. — New  Style  of  School-houses. — Further  Embarrassments  of 
the  Society. — Interest  on  Mortgages. — Premonitions  of  the  final  Result. 
— M'Keon's  Report. — Mutual  Good-will  of  the  two  Bodies. — Successive 
Steps  leading  to  Consolidation. — Act  of  June  4,  1853. — Final  Meeting,  and 
Dissolution  of  the  Society. — Summary. 

THE  new  guardians  and  guides  of  public  instruction  had 
no  easy  task  before  them.  The  outgrowth  of  intense  excite- 
ment and  bitter  controversy,  the  subject  of  misconception 
and  misrepresentation,  with  the  prejudices,  animosities,  and 
fears  of  a  large  and  influential  portion  of  the  citizens  arrayed 
against  it,  the  new  system  had  to  contend  with  difficulties  that 
seemed  well-nigh  insuperable.  A  powerful  and  compact  or- 
ganization, strong  in  the  character  and  influence  of  its  indi- 
vidual members  and  the  justly-earned  approbation  and  sym- 
pathy of  hundreds  of  thousands,  already  occupied  a  large 
portion  of  the  field.  The  one  thoroughly  centralized,  from  its 
origin,  and  disciplined  by  long  experience,  both  as  an  organ- 
ization and  from  the  continuance  of  its  individual  members, 
with  subordinate  committees  and  local  sections,  all  of  its  own 
erection,  and  responsible  to  the  central  power ;  the  other,  dis- 
crete, apparently  incoherent,  with  as  many  independent  boards 
as  there  were  wards  in  the  city — a  complex  machinery  of 
trustees,  inspectors,  and  commissioners  from  all  classes  of 


BOARD   OF  EDUCATION,  ETC.  69 

society,  and  with  powers  and  duties  not  so  sharply  defined  as 
to  prevent  injurious  disputes — with  the  central  Board  of 
Education  virtually  dependent  upon  the  dictum  of  the  local 
ones,  with  officers  of  every  grade  without  experience,  it  would 
seem  a  wonder  that  the  new  system  had  not  died  at  its  very 
birth,  But  it  contained  a  vital  element  more  than  sufficient 
to  overcome  all  these  difficulties,  more  than  enough  to  over- 
balance the  advantages  possessed  by  its  powerful  rival.  It 
was  based  upon  a  DIRECT  and  IMMEDIATE  APPEAL  to  the  PEO- 
PLE. No  body  of  men,  no  matter  what  their  character  or 
social  standing,  were  placed,  without  or  against  the  will  of  the 
people,  between  them  and  their  children.  If  they  have  one 
interest  which,  in  this  land  of  self-government,  they  should  jeal- 
ously guard,  and  keep  as  closely  as  possible  under  their  own 
control,  surely  it  is  the  selection  of  those  into  whose  hands  is 
committed  that  most  sacred  and  responsible  trust,  the  educa- 
tion of  their  offspring. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  working  of  this  principle 
in  its  gradual  unfolding,  as  the  citizens  came  to  look  more 
dispassionately  and  understandingly  on  school  affairs.  If 
there  were  mistakes,  this  would  remedy  them ;  if  the  wrong 
men  were  chosen,  those  most  deeply  interested  would  supply 
their  places  with  better;  if  modifications  of  any  sort  were 
found  necessary,  the  supreme  will  of  the  people  would  order 
them.  And  thus,  little  by  little,  and  against  all  obstacles, 
gross  misconceptions,  and  bitter  prejudices,  and  after  many 
errors,  the  system  was  developed  by  this,  its  innate  force,  till 
it  should  at  last  become,  by  universal  consent,  the  chief  or- 
nament and  pride  of  our  city ;  at  the  least  unsurpassed  by 
any  other  on  the  globe. 

The  law  as  originally  passed  was  very  deficient.  No 
school  was  organized  under  it  during  the  whole  of  the  first 
year.  The  amendments  of  the  next  year,  however,  enabled 
the  local  officers  to  build  and  open  seven  schools,  besides 
three  in  hired  premises;  in  1844  three  others  were  built;  in 
1845,  two;  in  1846,  one.  The  locations  selected  by  the 
ward  officers  had  little  or  no  reference  to  ward  lines.  By 


70  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

the  provisions  of  the  law,  any  pupil  residing  in  the  county 
was  entitled,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Public  Schools,  to  attend 

•  any  school.  Availing  themselves  of  this,  officers  often  chose 
sites  close  to  the  ward  lines,  sometimes  not  far  from  the  junc- 
tion of  several  wards,  so  as  to  draw  pupils  from  other  wards, 
while  secure  that  no  other  school  could  be  built  in  their  own. 
Some  of  the  Public  Schools  suffered  greatly  from  having 
new  schools  erected  within  a  very  short  distance.  The  build- 
ings were  mostly  small,  and  injudiciously  constructed.  In 
all  matters  involving  expenditure,  the  trustees  and  the  Board 
of  Education  were  practically  held  in  check  by  the  rigid 
economy  of  the  Public  School  Society,  now  more  rigid 
than  ever,  it  being  highly  important  to  either  party  that 
there  should  be  no  unfavorable  comparative  statement  as  to 
cost. 

In  the  internal  administration  of  schools,  each  ward  be- 

/  ing  a  "  district,"  was  virtually  supreme.  They  selected  their 
own  teachers,  subject  to  the  approval  of  their  inspectors, 
chose  their  own  course  of  study,  and  decided  upon  the 
method  of  organization.  The  plan  of  three  departments,  as 
in  the  Public  Schools,  was  generally  adopted.  By  common 
consent,  however,  the  unpopular  monitorial  system  was  aban- 
doned, a  larger  number  of  teachers  were  employed,  and  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  class-rooms  constructed.  The  troublesome 
question  of  religion,  by  which  the  whole  subject  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  control  of  schools  had  been  opened,  was  peace- 
ably settled  by  allowing  each  local  board  to  select  their  own 
books,  and  determine  which  version  of  the  Scriptures  should 
be  used,  subject  only  to  the  general  regulation  of  the  act  that 
"  no  religious  sectarian  doctrines  should  be  taught,  inculcated, 
or  practiced."  Each  ward  purchased  its  own  supplies  at  its 
own  price,  and  sent  in  the  bills  to  the  Board  of  Education. 
Teachers  were  obtained  from  various  sources,  some  of  them 
of  a  high  order  of  ability,  but  many  others,  appointed  by  in- 
dividual influence,  could  never  have  passed  the  rigid  exami- 
nation of  the  Public  School  Trustees.  The  Public  Schools 
themselves,  however,  were  the  chief  source  of  supply,  many 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION,   ETC.  71 

of  the  best  teachers  in  the  employ  of  the  Society  passing  over 
to  the  Ward  Schools.1 

Before  the  beginning  of  1848,  twenty-four  schools  had 
been  organized  in  the  various  wards,  some  of  them,  however, 
not  essentially  different  in  grade  from  the  public  primaries. 
Time  and  experience  pointed  out  improvements  in  the  orig- 
inal act  establishing  the  system,  and  various  amendatory  laws 
were  from  time  to  time  passed,  the  whole  tending  to  increased 
efficiency,  activity,  and  harmony. 

Meanwhile  the  Public  Schools  and  their  trustees  were  un- 
dergoing a  new  experience.  While  the  new  system  was  yet 
struggling  with  its  initial  difficulties,  and  before  Ward  School 
No.  1  had  been  opened,  with  even  more  than  their  usual 
energy  No.  17,  and  then  No.  18,  had  been  established,  and 
an  unsuccessful  effort  made  to  repeal  the  new  law.  As  the 
Acts  of  1842  and  1843  left  their  authority  to  expend  the 
public  money  in  erecting  buildings  somewhat  doubtful — in- 
deed it  was  utterly  denied  by  the  Board'of  Education — both 
parties  again  resorted  to  Albany,  and  the  Act  of  1844,  while 
legalizing  the  steps  already  taken  and  the  expenses  incurred, 
prohibited  the  establishing  of  any  new  schools  without  the 
consent  of  the  Board  of  Education.  The  same  act  also  pro- 
vided that  the  Society  should  increase  the  number  of  elected 
trustees  from  fifty  to  seventy-five,  who  should  have  power 
to  add  to  their  numbers  fifty  additional  members.  The  se- 
lections were  judiciously  made,  and  added  many  valuable 
members  with  new  ideas  to  the  old  Board. 

A  committee  was  appointed,  a  memorial  to  the  Legisla- 

1  There  were  many  reasons  for  this :  the  pay  was  in  most  cases  better ;  ex- 
perienced subordinates  were  offered  principalships  ;  the  direction  of  the  studies, 
the  selection  of  subordinates,  and  nearly  every  other  point  in  the  internal  man- 
agement was  either  put  into  the  principal's  hands,  or  greatly  influenced  by  his 
advice ;  and  there  was  in  every  way  greater  freedom  of  action  and  develop- 
ment of  individuality,  while  formal  and  offensive  official  stiffness  and  distance 
in  the  governing  power  were  replaced  by  cordial  and  manifest  sympathy  and 
consideration.  To  many  a  sensitive  and  noble  spirit,  escape  from  the  cold,  un- 
sympathetic, almost  military  rule  of  the  Society,  was  equivalent  to  an  emanci- 
pation. 


72  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

ture  was  prepared,  and  a  vigorous  effort  made  to  obtain 
"authority  and  means  to  establish  a  High  School  for  in- 
struction in  the  higher  branches  of  an  English  education,  and 
in  Latin  and  Greek."  This  measure,  it  will  be  remember- 
ed, had  been  discussed  and  approved  by  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees even  as  early  as  1826,  but  action  had  been  delayed  as 
premature  and,  from  financial  embarrassments,  inexpedient. 
Although  their  assistance  was  sought  by  a  committee  of  con- 
ference, the  influence  of  the  Board  of  Education  was  cast 
against  the  effort  as  being  yet  premature,  and  some  years 
passed  before  the  plan  of  the  proposed  institution  was  realized 
in  the  Free  Academy. 

The  steady  progress  and  many  excellences  of  the  "Ward 
Schools,  which  had  now  become  more  popular  as  the  true 
scope  and  purpose  of  their  fundamental  principle  was  better 
understood,  produced  important  internal  changes  in  the  Pub- 
lic Schools.  Besides  the  effects  of  the  loss  of  so  many  val- 
uable teachers,  to  some  of  whom  each  additional  building 
offered  positions,  the  rejection  of  the  monitorial  plan,  and 
the  evident  popularity  of  so  doing,  soon  led  to  the  final 
abandonment  of  the  last  remnants  of  this,  their  original  sys- 
tem. Many  additional  teachers  were  of  course  found  nec- 
essary, and  added  largely  to  the  strain  upon  the  straighten- 
ing means  of  the  Society.  It  involved  also  extensive  altera- 
tions and  repairs  for  the  furnishing  and  fitting  up  of  addition- 
al class-rooms.  One  phase  of  this  increase  of  the  corps  of 
instructors  marks  another  important  departure  from  the 
traditional  policy  and  views  of  the  trustees.  The  new  ap- 
pointees in  the  boys'  departments  were  females ;  and  the  ef- 
fects of  this  step,  as  had  already  been  found  in  the  "Ward 
Schools,  were  in  the  highest  degree  beneficial,  not  only  to  the 
discipline  but  to  the  character  of  the  instruction.  Anoth- 
er step,  small  perhaps  in  itself,  yet  unmistakably  indicating 
the  power  of -the  great  tide  of  innovating  improvement  which 
had  set  in  from  the  newer  system,  was  the  introduction  of 
vocal  music,  at  least  in  the  female  departments,  and  its  tolera- 
tion in  the  boys'  schools ;  the  little  ones  of  the  Infant  School 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION,   ETC.  73 

in  No.  10  had  won  a  victory  for  themselves  and  all  other 
" Primaries"  in  1830.1 

Still  another  change,  which  from  its  relation  to  the  annual 
average  attendance  and  the  finances,  indicates  the  growing 
pressure  which  .the  new  system  was  steadily  exerting  upon 
the  old,  was  the  extension  of  the  annual  vacation  by  adding 
another  week,  the  closing  of  the  schools  also  between  Christ- 
mas and  New  Year's  day,  and  limitation  of  the  daily  sessions 
between  the  hours  of  nine  A.M.  and  three  P.M.  during  the 
whole  year,  instead  of  closing  as  heretofore,  except  in  the 
winter,  at  five  P.M.  While  the  efficacy  of  their  management 
was  shown  by  the  slowly-increasing  numbers  in  average  at- 
tendance notwithstanding  their  many  difficulties  and  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  Ward  Schools,  the  expenses  of  the  Society  were 
also  increasing,  and  faster  than  their  income.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  general  fund  was  almost  a  fixed  sum,  and  the  great 

1  No  feature  of  the  schools  of  the  Society  seems  more  singular  than  this. 
Those  first  established  were  purely  Lancasterian,  modeled  as  closely  as  possible 
upon  that  of  Lancaster  himself,  who  it  will  be  remembered  was  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends.  The  Public  School  Society,  as  well  as  the  Female 
Association,  originated  in  the  ever-active  benevolence  of  the  same  religious 
body,  one  of  whose  peculiarities  has  ever  been  an  opposition  to  this  form  of 
aesthetic  culture.  To  the  last  of  its  existence,  the  "Quaker"  element  was 
very  influential,  almost  controlling,  in  the  Public  School  Society ;  and  one 
can  hardly  avoid  the  conclusion  that  their  peculiar  religious  ideas  as  to  mu- 
sic had  much  influence  in  strengthening  other  reasons  assigned  for  its  long  ex- 
clusion. When  La  Fayette  visited  No.  3  in  1824,  a  class  of  girls  recited  a  po- 
etic address  in  concert,  and  he  heard  another  poetic  address  in  the  Park. 
The  minutes  of  the  examination  of  No.  6  in  1827  state  with  evident  approval 
that  "  a  hymn  was  spoken  by  the  class."  A  strong  effort  for  the  introduction 
of  vocal  music  was  made  by  certain  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  1836. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  matter,  and  brought  in  a  very  deci- 
ded report  in  its  favor.  **  It  had  been  tried  in  No.  10  ;  the  teachers  were  unan- 
imous in  its  favor ;  the  time  required  would  be  mostly  out  of  school-hours  ;  it  had 
been  introduced  into  large  private  and  corporate  schools  here  and  in  other  cities  ; 
it  would  cost  nothing  whatever ;  and  would  not  encroach  upon  the  school- 
time."  The  report  was  promptly  "tabled."  After  nine  more  years,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1845,  Section  No.  16  forwarded  to  the  Executive  Committee  a 
copy  of  a  significant  resolution — "  that  the  time  has  arrived  when  vocal  music 
should  be  taught  in  the  Public  Schools."  After  being  referred  and  reported 
upon,  the  measure  prevailed. 


HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


increase  of  pupils  taught  reduced  the  pro  rata  to  less  than 
two-thirds  of  its  previous  amount,  the  pupils  taught  at  the 
various  classes  of  common  schools  having  nearly  trebled  in 
the  ten  years  previous  to  1852.1  They  were  driven  to  the 
most  watchful  economy  in  the  expenditure,  though  the  con- 
dition of  most  of  their  buildings,  some  of  them  in  constant 
use  for  more  than  thirty  years,  was  such  as  to  call  for  large 
outlays  for  necessary  repairs.  Their  funds  ran  short,  and, 
as  by  law  provided,  they  called  upon  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion for  assistance.  An  examination  of  the  statute  showed 
that,  while  school  buildings  owned  by  the  city  might  undoubt- 
edly be  repaired  or  improved  by  an  expenditure  of  the  public 
money,  the  case  was  far  from  certain  when  the  buildings  were 
the  property  of  a  private  corporation,  and  might  possibly  be 
directed  to  other  uses.  A$  the  law  forbade  them  to  build  any 
more  houses,  the  trustees  had  extended  yet  further  their  pri- 
mary system  by  hiring  premises  and  opening  five  additional 
schools.  This  was  considered  by  the  Board  of  Education  as 
an  evasion  of  the  statute,  the  five  schools  were  pronounced 
illegal,  and  the  support  asked  for  their  maintenance  was  re- 
fused. Both  parties  again  sought  the  Legislature,  and  a  com- 
promise was  effected  by  an  act,  passed  in  1848,  admitting  the 
five  primaries  to  participation,  but  distinctly  forbidding  the 
opening  or  establishing  of  any  kind  of  new  school  in  any  way 
whatsoever  without  consent  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

Meanwhile  this  latter  body  made  still  further  advances  in 
the  development  and  improvement  of  the  general  system. 

1  See  the  following  table,  which  also  exhibits  the  rapid  advance  of  the  Ward 
Schools  after  the  first  four  or  five  years : 


AVERAGE   ATTENDANCE. 

YEAR. 

WAKI> 
SCHOOLS. 

PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS. 

YEAR. 

WARD 
SCHOOLS. 

PUBLIC 

SCHOOLS. 

1842 

0 
2,07!) 
6,806 
7,522 
8,793 
11,598 

15,420 
15,938 
15,978 
16,602 
17,608 
18,646 

1848 

14,652 
15,805 
18.T1T 
21,212 
23,273 

18,587 
18,153 
19,292 
1!>,717 
19,315 

1843  

1849 

1844  

1850 

1845  

1851     

1846  

1852 

1847  

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION,   ETC.  75 

In  1847  four  new  school-houses  of  three  departments  each,  and 
of  better  construction,  had  been  built,  and  rapidly  filled.  Early 
in  the  same  year  a  committee  was  appointed  to  inquire  in 
the  expediency  of  applying  to  the  Legislature  "  for  the  pas 
sage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  establishment  of  a  High  Schoo 
or  College  for  the  benefit  of  pupils  who  have  been  educated 
in  the  public  schools  of  the  city  and  county."  On  the  20th 
of  January  of  the  same  year  a  report  was  presented  "recom- 
mending that  the  Board  should  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
establish  a  Free  College  or  Academy,  and  provide  for  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  Legis- 
lature in  accordance  therewith.  This  report  was  adopted, 
and  the  committee  thereupon  appointed  presented  a  memori- 
al, which  was  approved  by  the  Board,  and  forwarded  in  its 
name  to  the  Legislature.  This  memorial  states  that  '  one  ob- 
ject of  the  proposed  free  institution  is  to  create  an  additional 
interest  in,  and  more  completely  popularize  the  Common 
Schools.  It  is  believed  that  they  will  be  regarded  with  ad- 
ditional favor,  and  attended  with  increased  satisfaction  when 
the  pupils  and  their  parents  feel  that  the  children  who  have 
received  their  primary  education  in  these  schools  can  be  ad- 
mitted to  all  the  benefits  and  advantages  furnished  by  the 
best  endowed  college  in  the  state  without  any  expense  what- 
ever.' The  Legislature  responded  by  the  passage  of  a  law 
authorizing  the  Free  Academy,  giving  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion absolute  power  '  to  direct  the  course  of  studies  therein,' 
and  providing  that  the  question  of  establishing  the  same 
should  be  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people.  The  question 
was  so  submitted,  and  the  result  was  19,404  in  favor  of  the 
Free  Academy  to  3409  against  it."1 

The  anticipated  influence  of  the  new  institution  was  fully 
realized.  Thousands  who  had  heretofore  held  aloof  from  all 
public  schools  now  sent  their  children,  and,  in  consequence, 
took  direct  and  active  interest  in  school  affairs,  and  in  the  se- 
lection of  proper  parties  for  their  management.  It  was  soon 
seen  that  much  more  school  accommodation  would  be  necessa- 

1  Reports  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1847, 1848,  1856. 


76  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

ry.  Accordingly,  in  1849,  three  additional  school  buildings 
were  opened,  and  at  the  same  time  introduced  a  new  order 
of  school  structures.  They  were  of  much  greater  size,  so  that 
nearly  two  thousand  children  could  be  accommodated  in  a 
single  building,1  while  their  attractive  and  conspicuous  ap- 
pearance at  once  arrested  the  attention  of  the  passer-by. 
'They  were  the  first  of  that  magnificent  series  of  buildings  for 
the  people's  children  which  now  tower  aloft  in  so  many  parts 
of  our  city;  plain  and  substantial,  yet  significant  exponents 
of  the  appreciation  in  which  the  people  hold  the  educational 
system  which  they  s-ubserve.  The  attractions  of  the  interior 
have  already  been  indicated  in  the  sweeping  changes  which 
they  forced  upon  the  schools  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

The  difficulties  of  the  Society  still  continued  to  accumu- 
late, notwithstanding  tne  consummate  skill,  economy,  and 
prudence  with  which  its  affairs  were  managed.  The  table 
already  given  eloquently  testifies  to  the  ability  that,  in  old 
and  now  unsightly  and  dilapidated  buildings,  yet  held  fast 
their  total  average  attendance,  and  even  added  largely  to 
it,  although  some  of  their  schools  were  depleted  by  their 
near  and  more  magnificent  neighbors.  The  furniture  was 
old  and'  worn-out,  or  had  been  only  partly  replaced  by  the 
more  expensive  and  now  indispensable  styles  with  which 
their  rivals  were  fitted.  One  of  their  largest  and  best  school- 
houses  had  been  burned  to  the  ground,  and,  with  the  other 
extra  appropriations  required,  the  Board  of  Education  could 
not  assist  them  to  a  greater  extent  than  $8000  in  its  recon- 
struction. A  committee  was  appointed  to  make  inquiry, 
and  to  report  as  to  "  which  of  their  schools  did  not  pay  the 
cost  of  their  maintenance."  First  one  and  then  another  x)f 
these  were  sold  in  order  to  assist  in  carrying  forward  the 
others.  Large  mortgages  had  also  from  time  to  time  been 
effected  upon  their  real  estate,  and  the  annual  interest  upon 
these,  with  the  rents  required  for  many  of  their  primaries,  to- 
gether formed  a  heavy  and  increasing  burden.  The  annual 

1  There  are  now  some  buildings  in  which  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred 
children  may  be  seen  each  morning  in  the  Primary  Department  alone. 


ETC.  77 

deficiencies  became  more  and  more  discouraging,  and  the 
necessary  appeals  to  the  Board  of  Education  more  frequent 
and  importunate.  Assistance  was  rendered  as  far  as  seemed 
consonant  to  the  laws  and  to  the  interests  of  the  subject  of 
their  common  efforts,  and  in  accordance  with  the  great  trust 
committed  to  the  charge  of  the  Board.  A  question  soon  arose 
as  to  the  legal  right  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  provide  for 
the  large  annual  interest  required  by  the  mortgages.  A  brief 
investigation  was  sufficient  to  establish  the  fact  that  they  had 
neither  legal  nor  moral  right  to  carry  the  chronic  encum- 
brances of  a  private  corporation  whose  property,  whatever 
the  character  of  its  present  members,  might  at  some  time  be 
diverted  to  other  uses  not  in  accordance  with  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  designed,  and  to  which  it  had  so  long  been  hon- 
orably and  faithfully  devoted. 

The  inevitable  and  final  result  was  already  foreshadow- 
ed. As  early  as  1848,  in  the  able  report  of  Superintendent 
M'Keon,  whose  sound  judgment,  and  long  connection  with 
both  systems,  entitled  his  views  to  consideration,  may  be 
found  the  thought  toward  which  all  minds  were  steadily 
gravitating.  After  referring  to  the  fact  that  in  the  earlier 
years,  and  while  the  new  system  was  struggling  against  the 
difficulties  and  prejudices  which  beset  it,  "recommendations 
had  several  times  emanated  from  previous  city  superintend- 
ents to  put  all  schools  into  the  charge  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  '  subject  to  the  Board  of  Education,  through  the  hands 
of  which  alone  its  funds  could  be  received,' "  he  says,  "  This 
suggestion  was  not  heeded,  and  never  will  be.  *  *  *  *  I 
venture  to  suggest  a  modification  of  the  laws  by  a  compro- 
mise, so  as  to  merge  the  two  systems.  *  *  *  *  The  wisdom  and 
experience  of  that  venerable  body  will  be  needed  in  the  re- 
organization, both  for  guidance  and  for  co-operation."1 

1  In  his  report  for  1851,  Mr.  M'Keon  speaks  of  the  Public  School  Society  as 
follows:  "The  men  who  founded  that  society  were  men  who  loved  their  spe- 
cies and  country.  Their  schools  have  done  much  for  a  numerous  class  of 
persons  who  are  now  among  us  to  speak  their  eulogium.  But  it  is  not  in  con- 
sonance with  the  voice  of  an  intelligent  community  that  a  voluntary  and  cor- 
porate body  should  assume  or  perform  the  functions  of  the  citizens  at  large,  ex- 


78  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  official  relations  and  intercourse 
of  the  two  bodies  to  forbid  so  desirable  a  combination.  Al- 
though themselves  limited  by  the  laws  under  which  they 
were  organized,  the  Board  of  Education  from  time  to  time, 
to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  and  as  far  as  was  consistent 
with  those  great  interests  which  were  more  especially  com- 
mitted to  their  care,  had  advanced  the  required  funds,  and 
assisted  to  meet  the  ever-recurring  deficiencies.  The  Public 
School  Society  had  again  and  again  generously  reciprocated 
in  whatever  could  be  made  to  advance  the  common  interests 
of  the  schools.  They  had  granted  the  use  of  their  buildings 
to  the  Board  for  evening  schools,  and  had  thrown  open  the 
doors  of  their  Saturday  Normal  Schools  to  all  of  the  teachers 
of  the  Ward  Schools  who  might  choose  to  enter.  In  their 
report  for  1850  they  rejoice  at  the  spirit  of  liberality  shown 
in  the  new  style  of  school-houses,  and  say  that  they  would 
themselves  have  done  the  same  if" they  had  the  means.  They 
frankly  state  that  in  their  opinion  "  the  existing  competition, 
if  it  may  be  called  such,  has  already  been  an  advantage  to 
the  public."  In  an  earlier  report  they  compliment  certain  of 
the  Ward  Schools  for  their  efficiency,  and  "look  upon  the 
Board  of  Education  and  its  teachers  as  coadjutors  rather  than 
competitors,  and  have  therefore  given  the  use  of  a  room  in 
the  trustees'  hall  for  the  Ward  School  Teachers'  Association." 
With  these  and  many  other  indications  of  a  spirit  of  mutual 
good  feeling,  it  was  not  a  difficult  matter  for  them  to  take 
into  serious  consideration  the  expediency  of  a  closer  union  of 
their  efforts. 

The  first  move  came,  as  it  should  have  done,  from  the 

cept  in  cases  of  extreme  dereliction  on  the  part  of  the  public.  However  bencfi- 
cient  their  purposes,  and  however  wise,  from  experience,  the  members  of  a 
society  may  become,  there  are  many  equally  good  and  honest  men  who  will 
doubt  the  policy  of  committing  so  great  a  matter  as  the  education  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  children  of  the  whole  community  to  an  incorporated  society  over 
whose  doings  they  have  no  direct  control.  It  has  been  fortunate  for  the  people 
of  this  city  that  men  of  pure  intention  have  continued  to  control  the  councils 
of  this  great  Society  until  other  municipal  and  state  provisions  are  made  for 
the  education  of  a  large  portion  of  the  children  of  this  community." 


ETC.  79 

younger  body,  which  at  this  time  contained  several  members 
who  were  or  had  been  members  of  the  Public  School  Society, 
and  were  familiar  with  its  history  and  position. 

"At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Public  School  Society,  convened  January  26,  1852,  the  fol- 
lowing communication  from  a  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation was  read,  and,  on  motion,  ordered  on  record. 

"To  GEORGE  T.  TRIMBLE,  President  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

"SiR — At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Education,  held 
on  Wednesday  evening  last,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted,  viz.,  '  Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  three  members 
of  this  Board  be  appointed  to  confer  with  a  Committee  of  the 
Public  School  Society  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  union 
of  the  two  systems  of  education.' 

"  Whereupon  William  H.  Hibbard,  Samuel  A.  Crapo,  and 
Edward  L.  Beadle  were  appointed  as  said  committee. 

"  Will  you,  sir,  be  pleased  to  lay  this  subject  before  the 
body  over  whom  you  preside,  and  signify  to  them  the  hope 
on  our  part  that  a  similar  committee  will  be  appointed  on 
their  part,  and  advise  us  of  the  result  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience ? 

"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  WILLIAM  H.  HIBBARD,  Chairman. 

"Saturday,  January  24,  1852." 

The  subject  was  discussed  at  length,  and  President  Trim- 
ble, together  with  Messrs.  Peter  Cooper  and  Joseph  B.  Col- 
lins, were  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  the  Commit- 
tee of  the  Board  of  Education.1 

At  the  same  meeting  the  Executive  Committee  were  au- 
thorized to  invite  the  Board  of  Education,  which  hitherto 
had  no  suitable  meeting-place,  to  make  use  of  the  Trustees, 

1  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  committees  were  soon  after  en- 
larged by  the  appointment  of  Messrs.  Gary,  Carter,  and  Waterbury  on  the  part 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  Messrs.  Depeyster  and  Picrson  by  the  Public 
School  Trustees. 


80  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

* 

Koom  for  that  purpose.  It  is  unnecessary  to  trace  other 
than  in.  outline  the  steps  following  one  taken  in  such  a 
spirit. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting,  called  soon  after  to  consider 
the  present  position  of  the  Society,  the  Secretary  stated  that 
the  deficiency  would  be  $32,000  more  than  the  appropriation. 
After  much  discussion  and  another  meeting,  it  was  resolved 
to  raise  $40,000  by  new  mortgages. 

At  a  special  meeting,  September  17, 1852,  called  to  con- 
sider the  financial  condition  of  the  Society,  and  to  receive  the 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Conference,  the  Treasurer's  Ee- 
port  was  read,  and  then  that  of  the  Committee.  Several  mo- 
tions were  made  without  definite  action.  A  very  prolonged 
debate  ensued,  and  a  motion  to  lay  the  whole  subject  on  the 
table  failed.  It  was  finally  "  Resolved,  that  in  view  of  their 
present  circumstances,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Public 
School  Society  are  in  favor  of  a  union  with  the  "Ward  School 
system,  provided  they  can  be  equitably  represented  in  the 
management  of  all  of  the  Common  Schools  of  the  city." 

On  the  15th  of  October,  the  following  propositions,  which 
had  been  unanimously  agreed  upon  in  the  combined  commit- 
tee, were  presented  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  were  sub- 
stantially those  which  were  finally  the  conditions  of  union. 

1st.  The  Public  School  Society  to  transfer  to  the  city  all 
the  real  and  personal  estate  now  held  by  said  Society,  sub- 
ject to  all  debts,  liens,  and  encumbrances  thereon,  the  pay- 
ment of  which  shall  be  assumed  by  the  city ;  the  property  so 
conveyed  to  be  forever  devoted  to  .the  purposes  of  public 
education. 

2d.  Said  Society  to  surrender  and  discontinue  its  organi- 
zation and  existence. 

3d.  Previous  to  the  dissolution  of  said  Society,  it  may  se- 
lect and  appoint  fifteen  of  its  trustees  to  be  Commissioners  at 
large  of  the  Common  Schools,  who  shall  serve  as  such  during 
the  continuance  in  office  of  the  members  of  the  present  Board 
of  Education. 

4th.  The  said  Society  shall  in  the  same  manner  appoint 


BOAED   OF  EDUCATION,    ETC.  81 

three  of  its  members  in  each,  ward,  who  shall  be  Trustees  of 
Common  Schools  for  the  wards,  and  shall  serve  till  January 
1,  1855, 1856,  and  1857,  respectively. 

If  these  propositions  pass  both  Boards,  the  draft  of  a  law 
shall  be  presented  to  the  Legislature  for  consummating  the 
union  on  the  basis  of  this  programme.1 

The  propositions  were  accepted,  and  the  law  drafted ;  and 
on  the  19th  of  January,  the  whole  body  of  the  Society  itself 
being  assembled — the  previous  actions  having  been  those  of 
its  trustees — the  proposed  act  was  read,  and  a  resolution,  with 
a  very  full  preamble,  adopted,  conferring  upon  the  trustees 
full  power  to  effect  the  proposed  transfer." 

The  act  was  passed  June  4,  1853,  and  the  necessary  .steps  LX 
rapidly  followed.  After  raising  the  salaries  of  some  of  their 
teachers  whose  interests  justly  required  this  while  the  matter 
was  yet  in  the  control  of  the  trustees,  the  fifteen  commis- 
sioners and  the  trustees  for  the  various  wards  were  elected, 
and  "  this  Board  now  adjourns  sine  die  and  forever."* 

The  members  present,  in  accordance  with  due  notice  given, 
at  once  reorganized  as  a  meeting  of  the  Society  itself,  the  deeds 
conveying  the  property  were  produced  and  examined,  and  a 
resolution  passed  to  adjourn  to  a  final  meeting  on  Friday  the 
29th  at  4  P.M.  At  this  last,  an  eloquent  address,  suitable  to 
so  memorable  an  occasion,  was  delivered  by  Hiram  Ketchum, 
Esq.,  and  the  votes  of  thanks  to  the  President  and  Secretary 

1  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  :  the  corresponding  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation are  essentially  identical. 

2  The  long  and  full  minutes  of  this  meeting  are  very  interesting,  and  show, 
as  might  well  be  anticipated,  that  a  powerful  corporation  of  nearly  a  half-cen- 
tury's activity  was  not  ready  to  resign  its  existence,  and  its  noble  functions 
and  trust,  without  evidences  that  the  sacrifice  was  a  very  painful  one.     The 
preamble,  after  setting  forth  the  legal  history  of  the  Society  from  its  founda- 
tion, declares  that  they  yield  to  necessity,  and  not  to  the  conviction  of  their 
best  judgment ;  and  therefore  authorize  their  committee  to  effect  the  necessary 
steps,  and  "  hereby  confirm  all  that  they  may  do  as  if  it  were  done  by  them- 
selves." 

3  One  can  hardly  read  these  words,  written  in  large  hand  in  the  minutes  of 
the  last  meeting  of  this  useful  body  of  veterans,  without  a  feeling  of  regret  at 
the  necessary  dissolution  of  so  noble  an  organization. 

F 


82  HISTOKY  OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

were  responded  to  by  brief  and  appropriate  replies.  On  mo- 
tion, President  George  T.  Trimble,  and  the  agent  of  the  So- 
ciety, Mr.  Samuel  W.  Seton,  were  authorized  to  place  at  the 
disposal  of  a  competent  writer  such  documents  in  possession 
of  the  Society  as  may  serve  to  illustrate  its  rise,  progress,  and 
history. 

A  resolution  was  then  passed,  "  that  the  Books  of  Minutes 
of  the  Society,  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the  Executive  and 
other  Committees,  together  with  all  documents,  etc.,  etc.,  be 
deposited  with  the  New  York  Historical  Society."1 

And  the  resolution  came  at  last,  "  that  this  Society  do  now 
adjourn." 

Thus,  by  a  voluntary  surrender,  terminated  the  separate 
corporate  existence  of  a  society  without  parallel  in  the  annals 
of  education.  In  the  sketch  that  has  been  given,  at  least  two 
important  departments  of  its  labors  have  been  but  briefly  and 
inadequately  referred  to — the  education  of  neglected  chil- 
dren, and  the  relations  of  religious  to  popular  and  secular  in- 
struction. These  will  be  considered  in  separate  articles,  and 
can  not  be  omitted  in  forming  a  just  estimate  of  the  services 
of  this  useful  body  of  men. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  amount  of  labor  which  nearly 
half  a  century  of  vigilance  and  activity  involved,  the  skill 
and  prudence  with  which  they  conducted  an  enterprise  in- 
volving questions  of  such  magnitude,  responsibility,  and  deli- 

1  The  History  of  the  Society,  written  by  the  party  selected,  is  understood  to 
have  been  long  in  manuscript,  but,  for  some  reason,  has  never  come  to  light. 
The  valuable  Records  ordered  to  be  deposited  with  the  Historical  Society  did 
not  reach  this  their  selected  and  appropriate  resting-place  until  late  in  the 
spring  of  the  present  year,  1868,  and  the  effort  to  obtain  access  to  them  lias 
long  delayed  this  report.  Intensely  occupied  with  other  and  exhausting  labor, 
the  compiler  of  the  foregoing  sketch  had  no  opportunity  to  consult  them  till  the 
heats  of  June  and  July  had  come.  The  enormous  amount  of  manuscript  to 
be  gone  over  at  such  a  time,  comprising  very  full  minutes,  accumulating  dur- 
ing the  half  of  a  century,  and  the  brief  time  which  could  be  given  to  the  work 
will,  it  is  hoped,  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for  such  errors  as  have  no  doubt  been 
made  in  the  sketch.  There  was  little  time,  there  was  no  guide  such  as  the 
promised  "History"  could  have  afforded,  and  only  those  who  have  performed 
similar  labor  under  like  difficulties  can  realize  its  vast  amount. 


BOAKD  OF  EDUCATION,   ETC.  83 

cacy — the  valuable  time  given  through  so  long  a  series  of 
years  by  men  whose  business  relations  made  time  precious, 
with  no  recompense  other  than  the  consciousness  of  duty  per- 
formed, and  the  gratifying  evidences  that  their  labor  was  not 
in  vain  —  when  we  remember  that  millions  of  the  public 
money  passed  through  their  hands,  and  not  one  dollar  had 
ever  been  diverted  from  its  legitimate  service,  and  that  at 
the  close  of  their  long  service,  and  notwithstanding  their  em- 
barrassments, they  transferred  to  the  control  of  the  Board  of 
Education  property  valued  at  over  $600,000,  and  which, 
when  every  liability  was  discharged,  still  amounted  to  nearly 
half  a  million — when  we  consider  that  through  their  instru- 
mentality not  less  than  600,000  youth  had  been  instructed, 
and  over  one  thousand  two  hundred  teachers  educated  and 
trained  to  service,  we  can  not  but  feel  that  every  friend  of 
popular  instruction  and  every  lover  of  his  race  must  hold 
this  remarkable  Society  in  grateful  remembrance. 

Their  shortcomings,  such  as  they  were,  were  compara- 
tively trifling,  "and  e'en  their  failings  leaned  to  virtue's  side." 
Beginning  with  a  generous  effort  to  give  the  simplest  rudi- 
ments of  an  education  to  the  poor  and  the  outcast,  ever  the 
chief  objects  of  their  solicitude,  many  of  the  members  were 
to  the  last  practically  unable  to  recognize  the  real  wants  or 
to  sympathize  with  the  advancing  demands  of  the  general 
public.  The  progressive  element  of  the  Society  was  too 
much  held  in  check  by  these  conscientious,  well-intentioned, 
conservatives.  Chiefly  consisting  of  that  valuable  class,  suc- 
cessful business  men,  who  know  how  to  unite  private  person- 
al generosity  with  careful  business  thrift  and  economic  ex- 
penditure, their  sense  of  responsibility  in  spending  the  peo- 
ple's money,  and  their  anxiety  to  make  a  comparatively  small 
sum  benefit  the  largest  possible  number,  led  to  a  policy  to- 
ward their  employes  which  plainly  indicated  their  opinion 
that  they  had  no  right  to  be  generous.  Yet  no  one  could 
charge  them  with  favoritism;  and  as  the  appointing  power 
controlled  the  whole  field  of  the  city,  decided  talent  met  a 
ready  recognition  in  rapid  promotion.  As  has  been  justly 


81  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

said  by  high  authority,  "  They  have  imposed  upon  this  city 
a  debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  fitly  estimated,  much 
less  repaid.  Their  inventories,  vouchers,  documents,  and  re- 
ports have  been  properly  deposited  with  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society,  but  history  can  never  tell  how  much  these 
unostentatious  details  have  contributed  to  the  safety,  prosper- 
ity, and  glory  of  this  great  metropolitan  city."1 

1  Speculations  as  to  the  possible  history  of  education  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
had  the  Public  School  Society  never  been  organized,  would  of  course  be  out  of 
place  in  a  report,  and  could  not  detract  from  the  value  of  their  services.  As 
a  specimen  of  their  work,  the  compiler  would  state  from  his  own  personal 
knowledge,  that  in  1835,  in  a  ninth  class  of  thirty-two  boys,  there  were  two 
future  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  at  least  one  member  of  the  Legislature,  ft 
City  Register,  several  principals  and  assistants,  and  one  Assistant  City  Super- 
intendent of  Schools,  one  clergyman,  and  three  or  four  highly  successful  mer- 
chants. These  were  nearly  all  sons  of  men  who  earned  their  bread  by  daily 
toil.  Many  similar  examples  might  no  doubt  be  cited. 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.  85 


XIII. 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION. 
1853-1868. 

Beneficial  Results  of  the  Consolidation. — Measures  of  the  Board. — Influence 
of  the  Representatives  of  the  Society. — Depository  System. — Extension 
of  Normal  School  System. —  Superintendent's  Powers  increased. —  Re- 
building of  old  School-houses. — General  Introduction  of  Music. — Effects 
of  the  recent  War  on  Teachers'  Salaries. — Other  Expenses  of  the  Board. 
— Patriotic  Spirit  of  the  Schools,  and  of  the  Community  they  represent. — 
Amendments  of  the  Law. — Increased  Powers  of  the  Board. — Present  Con- 
stitution of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  of  the  various  local  Bodies. 

THE  history  of  the  Board  of  Education  during  the  years 
subsequent  to  the  combination  of  the  two  systems  of  schools  is 
not  marked  by  any  striking  events,  or  by  any  bitter  religious 
controversy.  Though  a  period  of  even  greater  activity  than 
any  preceding,  its  vast  operations  have  been  quietly  carried 
on,  and  all  parts  of  the  system  have  manifested  a  steadily  in- 
creasing efficiency. 

The  beneficial  results  of  the  union  soon  justified  the  antici- 
pations of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  schools  of  the  city. 
The  gentlemen  selected  by  the  Society  as  its  representatives 
both  in  the  local  boards  and  in  the  central  one,  were  trained 
veterans  in  school  matters,  and  thoroughly  understood  the  im- 
portance of  prompt  action,  and  of  ingrafting  the  results  of 
their  experience  ere  yet  the  brief  three  years  of  their  legal  con- 
nection with  the  schools  should  terminate.  Eespected  and 
prominent  members  of  the  community  at  large,  strong  not  only 
in  their  character  but  in  their  numbers,  and  in  an  essential 
unity  of  views  and  purposes,  their  unquestioned  ability  and 
long  experience  at  once  secured  to  them  a  leading  influence  in 
directing  the  legislation  of  the  Board.  There  were  now  under 
its  Control,  besides  the  ten  corporate  schools  entitled  to  partici- 


86  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

pate,  the  Free  Academy,  three  Normal  Schools,  forty-six  large 
schools,  nearly  all  having  three  departments  each,  fifty -six  Pri- 
maries, and  nine  Colored  Schools;  making,  in  all,  twohundred 
and  twenty -four  schools,  with  an  aggregate  annual  attendance 
of  nearly  forty-four  thousand.  As  one  of  the  first  measures, 
the  schools  were  all  renumbered,  the  schools  of  the  Public 
School  Society  retaining,  in  most  cases,  their  old  numbers,  but 
changing  their  title  to  Ward  Schools,  the  schools  established 
by  the  Board  taking  the  numbers  following.  This  preserved 
a  certain  historic  identity  and  continuity,  and  is  one  of  many 
indications  that  the  Board  of  Education,  the  legal  successors  of 
the  Society,  was  to  identify  its  history  with  their  history,  and 
to  recognize  its  origin  as  in  one  sense  the  primal  form  of  their 
own  organization.  The  term  Ward  School  was  soon  after  ex- 
changed for  Grammar  School. 

Up  to  this  period  the  several  wards  had  purchased  their  own 
supplies,  all  books  and  other  necessary  school  material  being 
furnished  to  the  pupils,  as  in  the  Public  Schools,  free  of  all  ex- 
pense. But  the  Society  had  great  advantages  in  the  economy 
of  supplies,  as  all  were  purchased  by  a  special  committee, 
and  upon  requisition  made  at  the  general  Depository,  distrib- 
uted at  stated  times,  and  under  stringent  regulations,  to  the 
several  departments.  The  same  system  was  now  made  gener- 
al. The  old  Depository  in  the  Trustees'  Hall,  now  the  Hall 
of  the  Board,  was  enlarged  and  stocked,  pass-books  for  the 
monthly  requisitions  furnished,  each  order  to  be  signed  by  the 
principal  of  the  department,  and  approved  by  the  proper  ward 
officers,  and  an  exact  account  kep't  of  the  supplies  furnished,  and 
the  cost  thereof  to  each  school — the  amount  to  be  limited  by 
a  "  tariff  of  supplies  "  annually  furnished  as  a  part  of  the  by- 
laws, and  based  upon  the  annual  average  attendance  and  the 
general  experience  as  to  the  quantity  of  each  of  the  several 
articles  required.  The  order  being  sent  to  the  Depository- 
clerk,  the  supplies*  were  delivered  at  the  several  schools  on  a 
day  fixed  in  the  by-laws,  the  city  being  divided  into  conven- 
ient districts  for  the  purpose.  This  valuable  and  indispensa- 
ble system,  applied  to  every  school  from  the  Free  College  to 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.  87 

the  smallest  Primary,  remains  essentially  as  it  was  introduced, 
with  such  improvements  as  time  and  experience  have  indica- 
ted. 

This  reform  was  one  of  the  first  of  a  series  of  measures 
acknowledged  necessary  by  general  consent,  and  leading  to  a 
farther  and  farther  departure  from  the  original  Ward  School 
system,  in  which  each  ward  was  in  nearly  every  respect  inde- 
pendent of  all  others,  and  by  which,  though  all  drew  from  the 
common  purse,  there  was  no  uniformity  in  the  proportionate 
amount  expended. 

Another  important  measure  was  the  enlargement  of  the 
Normal  School  accommodations  and  the  passage  of  by-laws  es- 
tablishing a  Normal  School  Committee,  and  enforcing  the  at- 
tendance of  teachers  under  conditions  analogous,  as  far  as  the 
difference  of  circumstances  would  admit,  to  those  which  had 
previously  applied  to  the  Public  Schools  only.  Provision 
was  also  made*for  an  annual  graduation  of  qualified  pupils, 
based  upon  an  examination  of  the  school,  conducted  by  the 
City  Superintendent  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  com- 
mittee. The  attendance  soon  rose  in  the  Female  Saturday 
Normal  School  from  about  two  hundred  to  nearly  six  hun- 
dred, the  Male  Normal  School  and  the  School  for  Colored 
Teachers  receiving  proportionate  accessions.  The  term  nor- 
mal, which  early  attached  to  these  institutions,  was  not  well 
chosen,  as  no  normal  instruction  was  given.  They  were  really 
supplementary  schools  for  teachers  who  did  not  hold  the  high- 
est grade  of  certificates  as  to  scholarship.  In  their  way,  they 
did  a  good  work  and  continued  in  existence  for  several  years, 
till  their  gradually  declining  numbers,  the  result,  in  part,  of  the 
large  graduating  classes,  and  the  unpopularity  of  the  coercive 
element,  led  to  their  abolition.  A  year  or  two's  experience, 
however,  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  their  restoration ;  and,  in 
a  greatly  modified  form,  with  .a  true  and  growing  normal  el- 
ement, and  the  coercive  principle  applied  only  to  a  very  lim- 
ited class,  they  have  been  reopened  with  a  larger  and  volun- 
tary attendance,  and  are  doing  far  more  service  than  ever  be- 
for.e.  They  will  be  again  briefly  alluded  to  in  this  report. 


88  HISTOEY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

A  third  measure  of  yet  greater  importance  in  its  perma- 
nent results  was  the  remodeling  of  the  system  of  general  su- 
pervision by  the  Superintendent's  Department.  There  had 
hitherto  been  only  one  such  officer  with  very  limited  powers, 
and  the  peculiar  relations  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the 
Public  School  Society  had  deprived  his  duties  of  the  full 
measure  of  their  usefulness.  A  chief  Superintendent,  with 
more  extended  powers,  was  now  appointed,  with  a  proper 
corps  of  assistants,  and  provision  made  for  a  frequent  and 
stated  examination  into  all  the  minutiae  of  every  school  and 
department  by  the  examination  of  classes  of  every  grade, 
the  inspection  of  the  records,  the  discipline  and  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  schools,  and  inquiry  as  to  compliance  with 
the  by-laws  and  regulations  of  the  Board.  The  examina- 
tions, licensing,  and  grading  of  teachers  were  also  placed  in 
the  hands  of  this  important  officer.  The  systematic  and 
minute  inspection  thus  provided  for  has  contributed,  at  least, 
as  much  as  any  other  agency  in  advancing  and  securing  the  - 
high  standard  of  efficiency  which  now  characterizes  our  city 
schools. 

In  consequence  of  the  dilapidated  condition  of  most  of  the 
school-houses  transferred  by  the  Public  School  Society,  and 
of  their  general  unfitness  by  size  and  construction  for  the  pur- 
poses of  a  system  of  education  so  different  from  that  for  which 
they  were  originally  erected,  the  Board  were  obliged,  through 
a  series  of  years,  to  expend  large  sums  of  money  in  rebuild- 
ing or  remodeling  such  houses,  and  thus  equalizing  as  far  as 
possible  the  advantages  offered  to  the  citizens  in  all  sections. 
Besides  this,  the  general  growth  of  the  city  demanded  more 
and  more  school  accommodations ;  a  demand  greatly  enhanced 
by  the  gratifying  fact  that  the  growth  of  school  attendance 
was  vastly  in  advance  of  that  of  the  city  itself.  While,  in  the 
ten  years  preceding  the  union  of  the  two  systems,  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  had  increased  sixty  per  cent,  the  attendance 
at  the  common  school  had  increased  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  per  cent.  The  houses  now  constructed,  whether  on 
the  old  or  on  new  sites,  were  of  substantial  and  superior  char- 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.  89 

acter,  and  possessed  of  every  advantage  of  arrangement  and 
furniture. 

In  1855  piano-fortes  were  introduced  into  the  Boys'  and 
Primary  Departments  and  Primary  Schools,  having  hereto- 
fore been  provided  in  part  only  for  the  female  departments. 
This  step  has  greatly  influenced  the  discipline  of  the  schools, 
and  rendered  them  pleasant,  cheerful,  and  attractive,  besides 
introducing  a  beneficial  vocal  training. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  in  detail  the  various  measures 
of  the  Board  during  the  fifteen  years  following  the  consolida- 
tion. The  era  of  improvement  at  that  time  begun,  by  no 
means  ceased  with  the  years  in  which  it  was  initiated.  On 
the  contrary,  each  succeeding  year  has  witnessed  more  or 
less  of  improvement  in  some  one  or  more  departments  of 
the  service,  in  no  case  more  decided  and  general  than  in 
the  one  or  two  years  immediately  preceding  the  date  of  this 
report. 

.  Two  very  important  series  of  changes,  however,  demand 
a  share  of  attention — the  first  of  these  resulting  from  the  gen- 
eral rise  of  the  prices  of  labor  and  all  commodities,  and  the 
second  from  modifications  of  the  organic  law  of  the  schools. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  recent  war,  the  highest  sala- 
ry paid  to  any  male  principal  was  fifteen  hundred,  and  to  the 
female  principal  eight  hundred  dollars ;  to  the  various  grades 
of  assistants,  from  one  thousand  down  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  These  rates  of  compensation  were  less  than 
those  allowed  for  corresponding  positions  in  several  other 
cities  of  inferior  financial  ability,  and  for  services  of  no  higher 
order  in  schools  and  classes  averaging  only  from  one-half  to 
two-thirds  the  number  in  attendance.  Besides  this,  even  at 
that  time  the  expenses  of  living  in  this  city  were  largely  in 
advance  of  those  in  any  other,  so  that  the  actual  compensation 
was  practically  much  below  its  seeming  proportionate  amount. 
The  effects  of  the  war  upon  the  remuneration  of  the  teachers 
were  greatly  detrimental.  It  was  not  till  nearly  or  quite 
every  other  form  of  labor  was  receiving  double  its  former  pay 
that  the  Board  was  enabled  to  increase  the  compensation  of 


90  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

these  its  faithful  servants.  The  city  had  continued  to  in- 
crease in  population,  and  the  demand  for  more  school  accom- 
modation was  imperative.  Limited  for  its  entire  multiform 
expenses  to  a  certain  sum,  it  was  not  at  once  in  the  power  of 
the  Board  to  do  full  justice  to  its  employes.  An  increase  of 
about  twenty,  and  finally  about  fifty  per  cent.,  was  effected 
during  the  war,  followed  quite  recently,  and  for  similar  and 
pressing  reasons,  by  further  advances.  The  salaries  of  the 
teachers  and  janitors  of  the  Grammar  and  Primary  Schools, 
exclusive  of  the  Free  Academy,  the  Evening  and  the  Normal 
Schools,  had  risen  from  $703,962  in  1860  to  $1,344,865  in 
1865,  and  to  $1,603,018  in  1867,  or  nearly  128  per  cent.  A 
part  of  this  increase  was  due  to  the  increase  of  the  num- 
ber of  teachers  'from  1548  in  1860  to  2514  in  1867 ;  but 
the  chief  cause  was  the  generally  and  justly  advanced  com- 
pensation of  all  grades  of  instructors,  whose  individual  sal- 
aries even  yet,  vast  as  they  are  in  the  aggregate,  are  by  no 
means  beyond  a  reasonable  rate,  as  an  inspection  of  the  taUe 
will  show.1 

The  same  general  cause  has  affected  in  an  equal,  and  in 
some  cases  in  even  a  greater  degree,  the  other  necessary  ex- 
penses of  the  Board.  The  greater  number  of  schools  and  of 
pupils  taught  accounts,  in  part,  for  the  advance,  but  the  gen- 
eral rise  of  prices  is  its  chief  element  The  whole  number 
taught  in  1860  was  153,582 ;  in  1867,  208,620— an  increase  of 
over  36  per  cent. ;  while  the  sworn  average  attendance  for  1860 
was  58,505,  that  for  1867  was  90,183— an  increase  of  over  54 
per  cent.  It  may  be  remarked  incidentally,  that  a  compari- 
son of  these  figures,  and  especially  the  very  much  greater  pro- 
portionate increase  in  the  attendance,  is  testimony  of  the 
highest  order  as  to  that  steady  and  quiet  advance  in  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  system  which  has  already  been  referred  to  as 
characterizing  this  period  in  the  history  of  the  Board. 

The  total  cost  of  books  and  other  supplies  furnished  has 
in  like  manner  been  enhanced,  even  after  making  all  due  al- 
lowance for  the  increased  number  of  pupils.  The  supplies 

1  See  By-law  on  Teachers'  Salaries. 


BOARD   OF  EDUCATION".  91 

are  obtained,  as  by  law  provided,  "  by  contract,  proposals  for 
which  shall  be  advertised  for  the  period  of  at  least  two  weeks." 
The  supplies  for  1860  for  all  the  various  schools  cost  $73,845, 
while  in  1867  they  amounted  to  $184,370,  being  an  increase 
of  $110,525,  or  nearly  150  per  cent. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  complete  exhibit  such  as  could 
readily  bs  made  of  the  application  of  the  same  law  and  cause 
of  increase  to  every  other  department  of  the  expenditures. 
The  enhanced  prices  of  the  real  estate  from  time  to  time  need- 
ed for  school  sites ;  the  great  advances  brought  about  by  so 
many  causes  in  the  price  of  labor  and  materials-employed  in 
construction  of  new  school  buildings,  and  in  the  extensive 
repairs,  additions,  and  alterations  found  necessary  in  furnish- 
ing more  and  more  room  in  the  old  ones ;  the  supply  of  fuel, 
and  the  many  incidental  expenses  of  the  Board — each  and 
all  of  these  has  felt  the  effects  of  the  general  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  and  has  unavoidably  and  greatly  increased 
the  aggregate  expenditure ;  so  that  while  the  sum  raised  for 
school  purposes  in  1860  amounted  to  $1,278,781,  it  had  risen 
in  1867  to  $2,892,393. 

Should  we  add  to  the  expenditures  of  1860  as  much  as  54 
per  cent,  the  proportion  of  increased  attendance,  the  cost  of 
the  schools  in  1867  at  the  rates  of  1860  would  have  amount- 
ed to  $1,969,323.  Subtracting  this  from  the  actual  expend- 
iture for  1867,  and  we  have  $923,070  as  the  increase  due  to 
advanced  prices  and  compensation,  an  estimate  which  is  evi- 
dently too  low,  as  the  difference  in  teachers'  and  janitors' 
wages  alone  in  the  years  1862  and  1868  amounts  to  no  less 
than  $902,620— the  total  expense  for  1868  not  materially  dif- 
fering from  the  amount  raised  in  1867.  Should  we,  however, 
add  only  36  per  cent,  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  whole  num- 
ber taught,  there  would  remain  $1,153,251  increase  due  to 
the  advance  of  the  prices  and'compensation  of  1867  over  1860. 
— of  which,  as  we  have  seen,  about  $900,000  is  due  to  the  in- 
crease of  salaries  of  teachers  and  janitors'  alone. 

This  subject  has  here  been  briefly  considered  on  account 
of  its  prominence  and  importance  among  matters  of  educa- 


92  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

tional  interest,  as  exhibiting  the  financial  effects  of  the  war 
upon  our  Public  School  system. 

In  the  multiplied  duties  which  during  the  war  devolved 
upon  the  various  classes  of  citizens  of  the  republic,  we  are 
proud  to  know  that  our  schools  and  their  teachers  were  not 
less  zealous  than  those  of  any  other  community  in  our  land. 
Many  of  our  teachers  and  older  pupils,  in  every  military 
rank  from  private  to  general,  hazarded  or  lost  life  or  limb  to 
maintain  the  integrity  of  their  country.  Long,  indeed,  is  the 
sad  yet  glorious  roll  of  names  rendered  forever  sacred  by  the 
seal  of  their  blood.  The  cannon-shot  of  Sumter  awoke  no 
louder  echoes  throughout  our  land  than  those  that  reverber- 
ated through  the  streets  of  the  metropolis.  No  one  who  wit- 
nessed the  enthusiasm  of  the  memorable  three  days  which 
succeeded,  could  ever  doubt  the  loyalty  and  patriotism  of  the 
masses  of  our  citizens.  Each  volunteer  regiment  had  its  full 
proportion  of  young  men  recently  from  our  common  schools, 
and  fired  with  the  spirit  of  patriotic  devotion  which  they 
have  ever  inculcated.1  And  when  the  time  came,  as  come 
full  soon  it  did,  that  little  hearts  and  little  fingers  had  sad 
and  loving  work  to  do  for  the  brave  men  who  had  been 
stricken  down  by  the  iron  storm,  or  by  the  exposures  of  camp 
and  field  life,  the  grand  army  of  school-boys  and  school- 
girls of  the  city  of  New  York,  under  their  teachers7  guidance 
and  example,  did  their  full  share  in  a  spirit  of  love  and  grat- 
itude, and  of  tender  sympathy  and  self-denying  and  patriotic 
devotion,  that  gave  sure  indication  of  the  soundness  of  their 
training  in  the  schools  of  the  people,  and  which  will  yet  bear 
precious  fruit  in  the  long  years  to  come.  In  sanitary  fairs, 
in  hospital  contributions  and  services,  in  comforts  and  con- 
veniences for  the  camp  and  the  march,  and  in  all  their  obli- 
gations and  duties  to  the  defenders  of  their  country,  our 

1  In  the  first  regiment  that  started  from  the  city  the  compiler  recognized 
over  thirty  young  men  who  were  personally  known  to  him  as  once  pupils  in 
the  city  schools,  and  afterward  saw  quite  as  large  a  proportion  in  other  regi- 
ments. Many  other  old  teachers  saw  in  the  same  regiments  equal  or  greater 
numbers  who  had  once  been  under  their  instruction. 


BOARD   OF  EDUCATION.  93 

schools  bore  their  full  part  and  were  a  ready  and  ever- 
willing  organization  for  generous  collections  of  money  and 
materials  from  every  class  in  the  community.  No  one  could 
see  the  nation's  flag  waving  over  every  school  edifice,  and 
their  rooms  dressed  with  the  same  sacred  emblem,  all  at  their 
own  expense  and  at  their  own  demand — no  one  could  visit 
the  morning  assemblages  in  their  large  halls,  and  hear  hun- 
dreds of  young  voices  singing,  with  no  feigned  lips,  hymns 
and  songs  of  patriotic  devotion — no  one  could  become  famil- 
iar with  the  earnest  spirit  manifested  by  these  institutions, 
without  being  convinced  that,  in  the  grand  lessons  of  love 
of  country,  they  abundantly  repaid  all  their  cost,  and  that 
by  these  more  than  by  any  other  agency  was  the  future  con- 
tinuance of  the  republic  to  be  secured. 

The  second  of  the  series  of  changes  already  referred  to  are 
those  arising  from  modifications  of  the  organic  law  of  the 
school  system  of  the  city.  The  Act  of  1842,  and  the  various 
subsequent  amendments,  left  the  powers  of  the  several  orders 
of  school  officers  somewhat  indefinite  or  conflicting.  An  ap- 
plication of  the  general  state  law  established  each  ward  as  an 
independent  district ;  and  while  it  conferred  on  the  Board  of 
Education  power  to  make  general  rules  and  regulations,  it 
did  not  so  sharply  define  its  prerogatives  as  to  enable  it  to 
compel  compliance.  Though  many  improvements  were  made 
and  general  regulations  enacted  especially  after  the  combina- 
tion of  the  two  systems  of  schools,  yet  whatever  of  compli- 
ance there  was  arose  chiefly  from  an  experience  of  their  ne- 
cessity, and  from  the  marked  good  sense  manifested  by  most 
of  the  local  boards. 

The  power  of  appointment  and  dismissal  of  teachers,  of  pro- 
curing supplies,  of  assigning  salaries,  of  granting  holidays,  of 
controlling  expenditures  for  repairs,  cleaning,  building,  fuel, 
and  nearly  every  other  form  of  outlay,  all  these  were  claimed 
both  by  the  Ward  Boards  and  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
and  led  to  much  confusion  and  irregularity,  and  to  great  in- 
equalities in  the  distribution  of  advantages  to  different  sec- 
tions of  the  city,  though  all  were  sustained  by  the  common 


94  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

treasury.  Some  boards  were  nearly  or  quite  indifferent  as  to 
the  interests  committed  to  their  charge,  while  others,  by  vari- 
ous means,  obtained  undue  advantages.  The  members  of  the 
Board  of  Education  itself  being  ex  qfficio  members  of  the 
boards  in  their  several  wards,  naturally  looked  more  to  the 
local  interests  which  they  specially  represented  than  to  those 
more  general  ones  for  which  they  were  nominally  chosen. 
The  powers  confided  to  the  inspectors,  though  seemingly 
very  extensive  and  searching,  were  really  nullified  by  the 
fact  that  they  were  powerless  to  effect  any  reforms  or  to  ex- 
ert any  check  upon  the  expenditures  of  the  local  boards,  had 
they  seen  fit  to  attempt  it.  In  some  few  sections  members 
of  the  local  boards  treated  their  teachers  with  great  injustice, 
or  were  guilty  of  gross  irregularities,  the  exposure  of  which 
not  only  brought  the  just  indignation  of  the  community  upon 
the  few  who  deserved  it,. but  also  involved  in  unmerited  oblo- 
quy or  unjust  suspicion  men  of  a  far  different  stamp,  whose 
duties  had  ever  been  uprightly  and  wisely  performed,  and 
who  were  entitled,  by  their  uncompensated  labors,  to  the 
respect  and  gratitude  of  all  good  citizens.  Of  course,  the  en- 
emies of  the  system  and  a  class  of  reckless  writers  for  the 
public  journals  made  the  most  of  these  scandals,  and  contrived 
to  leave  in  a  great  number  of  minds  an  impression  that  evils, 
which  were  really  exceptional  and  local,  were  more  or  less 
general.  Yet  the  system  under  which  such  irregularities 
could  arise  was  evidently  in  fault,  and,  in  consequence,  vari- 
ous successive  amendments  were  made  to  the  school  law,  con- 
ferring upon  the  Board  of  Education  more  definite  power  to 
remedy  such  abuses  by  the  prompt  dismission  of  the  offend- 
ers— a  power  which  they  have  not  hesitated  promptly  to  use 
in  all  cases  where  their  interference  was  needed. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1864;  the  Legislature  passed  an  act 
which  has  already  done  very  much  to  bring  the  entire  system 
into  full  harmony  and  unity,  and  to  remove  nearly  all,  and 
certainly  the  chief  sources  of  difficulty.  The  lower  business 
wards,  having  a  few  small  schools,  with  a  limited  number  of 
pupils,  had  heretofore  been  equally  represented  in  the  Board 


BOARD   OF  EDUCATION.  95 

of  Education  with  wards  that  educated  several  thousands  of 
children.  This  inequality,  as  well  as  the  injurious  identifi- 
cation of  the  members  of  the  Board  with  the  several  boards 
of  trustees,  was  removed  by  dividing  the  city  into  seven 
school  districts  of  nearly  equal  school  population,  each  of 
which  sends  three  commissioners  to  the  Board  of  Education. 
These  commissioners  hold  office  for  three  years,  one  going  out 
of  office,  and  his  successor  being  elected  each  year.  The 
Board,  therefore,  consists  of  twenty-one  members,  instead  of 
the  previous  number  of  forty-four,  or  two  from  each  ward. 
This  smaller  number  is  a  decided  gain,  in  the  efficiency  of 
its  working,  while  at  the  same  time  the  members  being  no 
longer  ex  officio  members  of  the  local  boards,  are  not  so  closely 
identified  with  narrow  local  interests.  The  extension  of  the 
term  of  office  from  two  years  to  three,  and  the  loss  of  only 
one-third  of  the  Board  at  the  end  of  each  year,  insures  an  ex- 
perienced majority  in  all  its  deliberations. 

The  local  boards  of  trustees  were  in  the  same  manner 
improved  by  being  reduced  from  eight  members — ten,  with 
the  two  commissioners — to  five,  one  elected  each  year,  and 
holding  office  for  five  years. 

The  inspectors,  clothed  with  new  and  enlarged  powers  and 
made  equal  in  number  to  the  commissioners,  hold  office  for 
the  same  time,  and  represent  corresponding  districts ;  but  in 
place  of  being  elected  by  the  people,  are  nominated  by  the 
mayor,  and  elected  by  the  Board  of  Education. 

An  abstract  of  the  law  will  be  found  in  this  report,  and 
to  this  reference  is  made  for  the  details  of  the  organization 
and  powers  both  of  the  central  and  local  boards. 


HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


XIV. 

THE  EELIGIOUS  QUESTION. 

Religious  teaching  in  the  Dutch  Period. — Purposes  of  the  Free  School  Society 
at  its  Foundation. — Influence  of  the  Friends.. — Voluntary  Association  of 
fifty  Ladies. — Religious  Census  of  Schools. — Special  moral  Instruction 
ordered  in  1819.— Visit  of  Moffit  and  Sommerfield  in  1820.— Address 
of  Moffit. —  Non-sectarian  Catechism  and  Scripture  Lessons. —  Bethel 
Baptist  Church,  and  the  Controversy  of  1822. — Controversy  of  1832,  and 
Admission  of  Orphan  Asylums  to  Participation.  —  Controversy  of 
1840-'42. —  Remarkable  Excitement. —  Expurgation  of  School-books. — 
Law  of  1842  establishes  the  Board  of  Education. — The  present  Condition 
of  the  Question. 

THE  Dutch  colonists,  as  we  have  already  seen,  made  relig- 
ious sectarian  teaching  an  essential  part  of  the  work  of  their 
public  school.  "  The  Heidelberg  Catechism,  the  Articles  of 
Religion,  and  instruction  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  claimed 
equal  attention  with  reading  and  writing.  The  school  of  the 
Eeformed  Dutch  Church  has  of  course  continued  to  teach  its 
distinctive  faith;  and  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury follows,  as  the  "  good  old  way,"  the  custom  established 
early  in  the  seventeenth. 

The  subject  of  special  religious  instruction  to  children  on 
the  ordinary  school-days  of  the  week  first  became  a  matter 
of  importance,  so  far  as  the  design  of  this  report  is  concerned, 
upon  the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  Society  in  1805. 
The  historic  and  legal  position  of  this  society,  as  the  prede- 
cessor, the  associate,  and  finally,  though  briefly,  as  an  organic 
part  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  long  period  during  which 
it  represented  all  there  was  of  instruction  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, and  more  especially  the  successive  struggles  in  which 
it  was  forced  to  engage  in  defending  or  enforcing  its  views  on 
this  subject  as  well  as  the  influence  which  partly,  through  the 
force  of  traditional  usage,  it  continued  to  exert  upon  many  of 


THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  97 

our  city  schools  long  after  its  own  legal  existence  bad  termi- 
nated, all  these  and  yet  other  considerations,  give  this  society 
great  prominence  in  a  review  of  the  development  of  the  prin- 
ciples underlying  the  question  of  religious  instruction  in  the 
Common  Schools. 

It  has  already  been  noticed  that  the  original  title  of  the  so- 
ciety implied  the  importance  of  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion— "  for  the  education  of  such  poor  children  as  do  not  be- 
long to  any  religious  society."  The  well  known  character 
of  the  founders  is  itself  enough  to  assure  us  that  such  instruc- 
tion was  an  essential  part  of  their  scheme.  In  the  first  ad- 
dress to  the  public,  dated  May  18,  1805,  and  nearly  a  year 
before  the  opening  of  their  first  school,  they  say,  "It  is  pro- 
posed, also,  to  establish  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  a  school, 
called  a  Sunday  School,  more  particularly  for  such  children 
as,  from  peculiar  circumstances,  are  unable  to  attend  on  other 
days  of  the  week.  In  this,  as  in  the  common  (week-day) 
school,  it  will  be  a  primary  object,  without  observing  the  pe- 
culiar forms  of  any  religious  society,  to  inculcate  the  sublime 
truths  of  religion  and  morality  contained  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures."1 The  adoption  of  the  Lancasterian  system  seems  to 
have  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  Sabbath  School  enterprise 
as  originally  projected ;  but  under  the  limitations  set  forth 
in  their  prospectus,  the  religious  element  was  introduced  into 
the  schools  actually  established,  and  ever  remained  a  "  prima- 
ry object"  in  the  labors  of  the  Society.  The  variety  of  relig- 
ious sentiment  represented  by  its  members,  and  perhaps,  to 
some  extent,  the  preponderating  influence  of  the  Friends,  re- 
duced the  religious  devotional  exercises  to  the  simple  reading 
of  a  portion  of  the  Bible  to  the  whole  school  at  the  opening 
of  the  morning  session,  the  use  of  the  sacred  volume  br  of  the 
New  Testament  by  the  pupils  as  a  reading-book  being  also 
introduced  as  a  part  of  the  regular  work  of  each  day. 

It  was  no  doubt  felt  by  many  pious  persons  who  con- 
tributed to  the  support  of  the  Society  that  this  was  far  from 
sufficient  for  the  great  purposes  of  positive  religious  training. 

1  Signed  by  De  Witt  Clinton  and  the  entire  Board  of  Trustees. 

G 


98  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

Accordingly,  "  on  the  suggestion,  and  to  meet  the  wishes  of 
numerous  well-meaning  individuals,"  an  arrangement  was 
made  by  which  a  voluntary  association  of  fifty  or  more  ladies 
from  the  various  religious  denominations  met  in  the  school- 
room on  Tuesday  afternoon  of  each  week  and  gave  instruc- 
tion from  the  catechisms  of  their  various  churches,  the  pupils 
being  grouped  according  to  the  ascertained  preferences  of 
their  parents.  For  this  purpose  a  census  of  the  pupils  ac- 
cording to  their  religious  connections  seems  to  have  been 
taken  in  each  of  the  years  during  which  this  arrangement 
continued,  until  the  wide  extension  of  Sabbath  Schools  in 
the  year  1816  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  whole  plan.1 
During  its  continuance  the  children  were  required  to  meet 
at  the  school-room  on  Sunday  morning,  and  upon  being  di- 
vided into  the  proper  groups,  marched,  under  care  of  moni- 
tors selected  from  among  them  for  that  purpose,  to  such  places 
of  worship  as  had  been  designated  by  their  parents  or  guard- 
ians.8 

In  1819,  in  pursuance  of  their  design  of  assisting  to  form 
proper  habits,  and  of  preventing  the  adoption  of  injurious  or 
immoral  ones,  the  trustees,  by  resolution,  ordered  "  that  the 
children  be  taught  once  a  week  'to  repeat  some  suitable  pas- 
sages out  of  tracts  on  the  subject  of  the  destructive  use  of /ir- 
dent  spirits  ;  and  in  order  that  this  may  not  be  omitted,  it  is 
directed  to  be  inserted  in  the  by-laws."  This  was  followed 
by  a  widejy-circulated  address  to  parents  and  guardians 
abounding  with  moral  and  religious  advice  both  for.  them- 

1  The  number  of  children  educated  in  the  peculiar  tenets  of  each  religious 
community  is,  at  the  present  time,  as  follows : 


Presbyterians 271 

Episcopalians 186 

Afethodists ..  172 


Baptists. .' 119 

Dutch  Church 41 


Roman  Catholic 9 

From  the  Xinth  Annual  Report,  1814. 

The  report  for  1815  gives: 


Presbyterians 365 

Methodists 175 

Episcopalians 159 


Baptists 144 

Roman  Catholics 57 

Dutch  Church .     33 


2  "  In  cases  where  an  attendance  at  school  previous  to  going  to  church  is 
particularly  inconvenient,  liberty  has  been  given  for  the  children  to  attend 
public  worship  in  company  with  their  parents  or  guardians." — Report  of 
1815. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  99 

selves  and  their  children,  particularly  urging  the  duties  of 
cleanliness  and  temperance,  and  setting  forth  the  importance 
of  the  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of  life,  of  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  attendance  of  the  children  upon  the  Sab- 
bath Schools. 

In  1820,  the  Eev.  Messrs.  Moffit  and  Sommerfield,  of  En- 
gland, being  in  this  country  on  a  religious  tour,  visited,  at- 
tended by  a  special  committee,  the  several  schools  of  the  So- 
ciety ;  and  soon  after  the  pupils  of  all  their  schools,  with  their 
teachers  and  monitors,  being  assembled  to  the  number  of 
2300  in  the  large  Baptist  Church  in  Mulberry  Street,  were 
again  addressed  by  Mr.  Moffit  as  seemed  to  him  suitable  to 
the  occasion.  Their  experience  in  this  instance  seems  to 
have  convinced  the  Society  that  they  had  overstepped  the 
bounds  of  prudence  ;  for  an  application  for  like  privileges  to 
those  that  had  been  granted  to  Mr.  Moffit  having  been  made 
by  one  Thaddeus  Osgood,  a  travelling  missionary,  and  proba- 
bly a  Quaker,  it  was  promptly  refused,  and  no  further  similar 
occurrence  appears  in  all  the  subsequent  minutes  of  the  Socie- 
ty. Their  own  efforts  to  confer  moral  and  religious  benefits 
upon  their  pupils,  however,  by  no  means  ceased ;  two  thou- 
sand copies  of  the  Universal  Non-sectarian  Catechism  being 
purchased  for  use  in  the  schools,  and  at  the  same  time  a  book 
entitled  the  Scripture  Lessons,  a  compilation  for  the  schools 
of  Kussia,  and  which  had  also  been  used  in  England,  was 
adopted  as  a  reading-book  for  some  of  the  advanced  classes. 
This  plan  of  using  a  catechism  was  soon  abandoned,  and  never 
resumed. 

The  first  serious  controversy  in  which  the  Society  became 
involved  arose  in  the  year  1822  on  a  question  as  to  the  par- 
ticipation of  certain  denominational  schools  in  the  distribution 
of  the  interest  of  the  Common  School  Fund,  and  is  so  im- 
portant, from  the  principles  evolved  in  the  wide  discussion 
to  which  it  gave  rise,  that  it  is  desirable  to  trace  it  to  its 
origin. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  1805,  the  same  year  in  which  the  Free 
School  Society  was  founded,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act 


100  HISTOKY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

providing  that  the  net  proceeds  of  500,000  acres  of  the  vacant 
and  unappropriated  lands  of  the  people  of  this  state,  which 
should  be  first  thereafter  sold  by  the  surveyor-general,  should 
be  appropriated  as  a  permanent  fund  for  the  support  of  Com- 
mon Schools ;  the  avails  to  be  safely  invested  until  the  in- 
terest should  amount  to  $50,000,  when  an  annual  distribution 
of  that  amount  should  be  made  to  the  several  school  districts. 
This  act  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  fund  for  the  sup- 
port of  Common  Schools.1  This  fund  was  further  added  to 
by  the  proceeds  of  certain  bank  stocks,  and  of  the  lotteries 
authorized  by  the  Act  of  1803. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1812,  an  act  was  passed  establishing 
Common  Schools  in  the  state,  and  provision  made  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Act  of  1805  for  the  distribution  of  the  interest  of 
the  fund.  There  were  at  this  time,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
several  societies  engaged  in  educating  the  poor ;  and  on  the 
12th  of  March,  1813,  a  law  was  passed  "  directing  that  the 
portion  of  the  School  Fund  received  by  the  city  and  county 
of  New  York  shall  be  apportioned  and  paid  to  the  trustees 
of  the  Free  School  Society,  the  trustees  or  treasurers  of  the  Or- 
phan Asylum  Society,  the  Society  of  the  Economical  School,2 
the  African  Free  School,  and  of  such  incorporated  religious  so- 
cieties in  said  city  as  supported  or  should  establish  charity  schools 
who  might  apply  for  the  same."3  The  distribution  was  to  be 
in  the  proportion  of  the  number  of  pupils  on  register.  Under 
the  provisions  of  this  law,  which  was  confined  in  its  opera- 
tion to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  had  no  parallel  in  any 
other  portion  of  the  state,  several  religious  bodies  drew  a  cer- 
tain share  of  the  School  Fund,  either  for  new  schools  or  for 
those  previously  established.  In  1820  the  Bethel  Baptist 
Church,  in  Delancy  Street,  opened  a  school  which,  like  the 
others,  was  admitted  to  participation. 

Meanwhile  the  schools  of  the  Free  School  Society  had  in- 

1  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  S.  S.  Randall. 
'  The  Economical  School  was  a  school  for  the  children  of  refugees  from  the 
West  Indies.     In  1822  it  reported  ninety-seven  pupils  on  register. 
3  The  first  distribution  of  the  School  Fund  was  in  1815. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  101 

creased  from  the  two  which  were  in  existence  at  the  date  of 
the  Law  of  1813  to  four — the  school  No.  4  having  been  open- 
ed in  May,  1819.  The  rigid  economy  practiced  by  the  Soci- 
ety, and  the  comparative  smallness  of  the  expense  per  schol- 
ar in  large  schools  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  had,  as  early  as 
1816,  the  second  year  in  which  a  distribution,  was  made,  left 
them  an  unexpended  surplus,  a  special  provision  of  the  law 
of  distribution  being  that  it  should  be  expended  for  teachers' 
ivages  only.  Justly  anticipating  a  wide  extension  of  their 
sphere  of  usefulness,  the  trustees  in  1817  applied  for  and 
obtained  the  passage  of  a  special  law  in  their  favor,  per- 
mitting the  expenditure  of  their  surplus  in  new  buildings, 
or  in  the  education  of  masters  on  the  Lancasterian  plan. 
This  exclusive  privilege  was  then  understood  to  be  granted 
them,  because  the  Society,  having  been  organized  for  the  sole 
purposes  of  education,  it  was  believed  would  ever  hold  its 
buildings  and  property  sacred  to  that  object,  and  consequent- 
ly no  perversion  of  the  state  fund  could  ever  be  apprehend- 
ed in  the  use  of  an  appropriation  designed  to  extend  the 
education  of  the  poor  in  the  metropolis  of  the  state.  As 
has  been  stated,  No.  3  was  opened  in  1818,  No.  4  in  1819, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  No.  5  in  1822. 

Early  in  this  year,  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  through 
their  energetic  pastor,  the  Eev.  Jonathan  Chase,  again  sought 
the  Legislature,  and  obtained  powers  for  that  organization 
similar  to  those  already  granted  to  the  Free  School  Society ; 
that  is,  power  to  expend  any  surplus  in  erecting  new  build- 
ings and  opening  them  for  schools.1  A  second,  and  soon 
after  a  third  school  were  opened  by  the  Baptist  Society,  and 
other  religious  bodies  prepared  to  follow  their  example. 

The  Free  School  Society  soon  gave  expression  to  the 
alarm  felt  by  them  in  common  with  a  large  portion  of  the 
citizens,  while  many  others,  and  more  especially  of  the  Dutch 
and  the  Episcopal  churches,  made  common  cause  with  the 
Baptists.  A  warm  controversy  arose,  and  soon  involved  the 
whole  question  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  participation  of  any 
1  See  Table  on  following  page. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


religious  sectarian  school.  On  the  one  hand  it  "was  claimed 
that  the  Free  School  Society  had  come  to  be  a  monopoly  in 
the  absorption  of  the  public  funds,  and  in  all  that  related  to 
the  education  of  the  poor ;  that  by  the  law  of  the  state,  as  by 
common  right,  each  religious  body  was  entitled  to  its  propor- 
tionate share  in  the  School  Fund  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  several  congregations,  and  that  buildings 
erected  by  them  for  school  purposes  were  no  more  liable  or 
likely  to  be  turned  to  other  and  non-legitimate  uses  than  in 
the  case  of  the  Free  School  Society  itself.  On  the  other  hand 
it  was  contended  that  if  the  Society  was  in  any  such  sense  a 
monopoly,  it  was  one  of  which  every  citizen  had  a  legal  right 
to  become  a  member,  and  that  such  general  participation  in  its 
rights,  duties,  and  government  was  earnestly  solicited ;  that 
the  distribution  of  the  limited  amount  of  the  School  Funds 
among  many  societies  deprived  it  of  very  much  of  its  useful- 
ness by  rendering  a  thorough  economy  impossible,  the  result 
being  a  large  number  of  poor  schools,  under  poorly  paid,  and 
therefore  inefficient  teachers ;  and  that  a  true  regard  for  the 
public  interests  required  the  most  careful  confinement  of  ex- 
penditure to  as  few  channels  as  were  consistent  with  the  rights 
of  all  concerned;  and  that  as  to  the  possibility  of  the  perver- 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  distribution  of  the  School  Fund  in.  the 
city  of  New  York  in  1822 : 


PUPILS. 

AMOUNT. 

New  York  Free  Schools                         . 

3412 

$6^587  52 

African         "        "       

862 

168!)  52 

Female  Association 

776 

1520  96 

Bethel  Baptist  Church  

755 

1479  80 

St  Patrick's 

345 

679  20 

St.  Peter's  .... 

316 

619  36 

Methodist  Churches.  .  .  . 

315 

617  40 

136 

266  36 

Episcopal  Churches 

124 

243  04 

Reformed  Dutch  Church  

100 

196  00 

Economical  School  

97 

190  12 

Hamilton  Free  School  

81 

158  76 

Mechanics'  Society.  ....     '    . 

52 

101  92 

St.  Michael's  Church  

86 

70  56 

Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society 

82 

62  72 

24 

47  04 

23 

45  08 

First  Baptist  Church  

18 

35  28 

Chrht  Church  

15 

29  40 

15 

29  40 

THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  103 

sion  of  the  property  acquired  by  religious  bodies  through 
their  unexpended  balances  of  the  school  money,  the  facts  in 
the  special  case  justified  all  their  fears  in  this  particular.  It 
was  also  declared  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  ready,  on 
behalf  of  the  Society,  to  assist  in  procuring  the  passage  of  a 
law  that  should  render  their  property  inalienably  and  sacred- 
ly pledged  for  the  avowed  object  of  their  institution,  while 
the  schools  themselves  should  be  placed  under  the  general 
supervision  of  the  Common  Council  as  the  direct  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  and  that  the  Society  would  gladly  unite 
with  their  fellow-citizens  in  any  general  plan  for  the  efficient 
extension  of  the  monitorial  system. 

A  memorial  was  therefore  presented  to  the  Legislature  of 
1823,  asking  for  a  repeal  of  the  law  granting  privileges  to  the 
Baptist  Church,  so  far  at  least  as  related  to  the  expenditure 
of  surplus  moneys,  and  for  an  amendment  of  the  law  relative 
to  the  distribution  of  the  School  Fund,  so  as  to  prevent  any 
religious  society  entitled  to  a  participation  in  the  fund  from 
drawing  for  any  other  than  the  poor  children  of  their  respect- 
ive congregations.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  session,  and 
a  want  of  knowledge  as  to  the  facts  of  the  case,  no  further 
progress  was  made  than  the  passage  of  a  resolution  requir- 
ing the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  to  report  in  de- 
tail the  expenditure  of  the  school  money,  and  the  manner  of 
its  appropriation  by  the  various  societies  receiving  it. 

The  general  results  of  this  investigation  are  given  in  the 
19th  Annual  Report  of  the  Society,  and  would  seem  fully  to 
justify  the  alarm  felt,  and  the  measures  taken  in  regard  to 
the  alleged  evils. 

It  is  stated  in  this  report  that  some  300  children  had  been 
induced  by  various  means  to  leave  Free  School  No.  3  in  Hud- 
son Street  and  attend  Bethel  School  No.  3  in  Vandam  Street; 
that  since  by  the  law  each  society  participated  in  proportion, 
not  to  the  average  attendance,  but  to  the  number  on  register, 
the  Bethel  Society  had  taken  undue  advantages — their  re- 
ported register  being  1547,  while  the  whole  number  present 
at  inspection  was  only  886 ;  that  one  school  drew  money  for 


104  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

a  register  of  450,  yet  could  possibly  accommodate  only  300 ; 
that  being  allowed  to  expend  the  surplus,  after  paying  teach- 
ers, in  building  more  school-houses,  the  cheapest  sort  of  teach- 
ers had  been  provided,  although  nominally  at  salaries  equal 
to  those  paid  by  the  Free  School  Society,  both  sets  of  schools 
being  conducted  on  the  monitorial  system ;  that  teacher  Buyce 
of  No.  1  testified  that  he  signed  an  agreement  for  a  salary  of 
$900  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  pay  $450  of  it 
over  to  Mr.  Chase ;  that  the  teacher  of  No.  2  got  $600,  and 
agreed  to  return  $200  as  a  "  donation ;"  that  by  such  means 
Mr.  Chase  and  tlie  Bethel  Baptist  Church  received  some 
$2500  per  annum,  and  at  the  same  time  brought  the  Lancas- 
terian  system  into  ill-deserved  repute  by  the  shocking  ineffi- 
ciency of  its  management ;  that  by  funds  so  accumulated  a 
building  was  being  erected,  the  basement  of  which,  dark  and 
ill-ventilated,  was  to  be  the  school  provided  by  law>  while 
the  upper  and  better  portion  was  to  be  devoted  to  church 
purposes ;  and  that,  owing  to  the  success  of  the  Baptists,  other 
religious  societies  were  preparing  to  follow  their  example. 

They  also  state  with  great  force  that,  having  for  years 
urged  their  pupils  to  attend  Sabbath  Schools  for  religious  in- 
struction, they  are  pained  to  find  those  schools  now  made  the 
means  and  opportunity  of  urging  children  to  abandon  the 
Free  Schools  altogether ;  thus  leading  off  large  numbers  of 
pupils,  who,  in  their  turn,  naturally  persuaded  away  others 
of  their  school-mates,  and  that  in  this  manner  these  sectarian 
schools,  supported  by  the  public  money,  are  made  a  most 
convenient  means  of  proselyting.  As  a  conclusive  test  of 
the  results  of  the  moral  training  given  by  the  Free  Schools, 
they  assert  that,  although  in  eighteen  years  they  had  instruct- 
ed 20,000  poor  children,  only  one  of  these  had  been  traced  to 
a  criminal  court.  The  primary  object  of  denominational 
schools  being  not  a  literary  but  a  religious  sectarian  education, 
the  consequences  of  such  training  are  the  inevitable  sharpen- 
ing of  the  lines  dividing  sects,  the  systematic  sowing  in  the 
young  mind  of  those  germs  of  conscientious  antagonism 
which  had  so  often  ripened  into  a  harvest  of  blood,  and  the 


THE   RELIGIOUS   QUESTION.  105 

destruction  of  Common  Schools  the  only  common  ground  in 
which  the  future  citizens  of  the  republic  could  from  their 
childhood  learn  to  know  and  respect  each  other.  To  do  this 
at  all  was  a  grievous  evil ;  to  do  it  at  the  expense  of  the 
public,  whose  future  harmony  was  thus,  however  remotely, 
imperiled,  was  an  offense  against  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  republic  itself. 

These  considerations  induced  the  Free  School  Society 
again  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  in  1824  "  that  the  religious 
societies  might  be  restricted  to  what  was  justly  deemed  the 
obvious  intention  of  the  act  providing  for  their  participation 
in  the  School  Fund.  To  a  bill  prepared  for  that  purpose, 
they  obtained  the  sanction  of  the  city  Corporation,  who,  after 
a  full  examination  of  the  subject  and  mature  deliberation, 
unanimously  adopted  it,  and  memorialized  for  its  enactment." 
Several  religious  societies  also  indorsed  the  memorial  of  the 
Free  School  Society.  The  final  action  of  the  Legislature 
seems  to  have  taken  all  parties  by  surprise.  Instead  of  them- 
selves deciding  any  of  the  questions  involved,  they  passed 
an  act  transferring  the  whole  subject  of  the  local  distribution 
of  the  School  Fund  to  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of 
Hew  York,  with  full  powers  to  make  such  assignment  as  they 
might  deem  just  and  expedient.1 

This  transfer  of  the  duty  of  the  decision  to  the  Common 
Council  led,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  to  a  most  important  and 
exciting  series  of  debates  in  that  body,  and  before  the  special 
committee  which  took  charge  of  the  subject.  The  best  talent 
the  city  afforded  was  represented  on  both  sides ;  the  discussion 
took  a  far  wider  range  than  was  originally  proposed,  and  the 
respective  parties  were  fully  and  patiently  heard  before  this  fin- 
al tribunal.  "  The  grounds  on  which  the  restriction  was  now 
advocated  were,  that  the  intention  of  the  Law  of  1813,  grant- 

1  The  minutes  and  committee  reports  of  the  Society  make  mention  in  sever- 
al places  of  the  strength  and  activity  of  the  opposing  "lobby,  "and  particular- 
ly name  the  Kev.  Messrs.  Chase,  Wainwright,  Matthews,  Milnor,  Onderdonk, 
and  some  others,  representing  the  Dutch,  Baptist,  and  Episcopal  churches,  as 
opposed  to  the  efforts  of  Rutgers,  Jay,  C.  D.  Colden,  and  S.  Allen. 


106  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

ing  the  church  schools  a  portion  of  the  funds,  was  solely  for 
the  education  of  their  own  poor,  never  contemplating  an  ex- 
tension of  their  schools  that  would  at  all  interfere  with  those 
of  the  Free  School  Society,  the  design  of  which  was  solely 
the  extension  of  common  schools,  and  especially  for  the  poor. 
It  was  considered  further  that  the  principles  that  had  hereto- 
fore guided  all  legislation  on  this  subject  were  infringed,  and 
a  fund  designed  for  civil  purposes  diverted  to  the  support 
of  religious  institutions,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  acknowl- 
edged principles  of  our  Government,  which  has  ever  left  re- 
ligion to  be  sustained  by  voluntary  contributions,  and  the  in- 
dividual effort  and  patronage  of  its  own  votaries."  The  com- 
mittee, "  deeming  that  the  School  Fund  of  the  state  was  pure- 
ly of  a  civil  character,  designed  for  civil  purposes,  and  that 
the  intrusting  of  it  to  religious  or  ecclesiastical  bodies  was 
a  violation  of  an  elementary  principle  in  the  politics  of  the 
state  and  country,"  reported  "against  distributing  any  portion 
of  the  School  Fund  to  the  schools  of  religious  societies,"  and 
in  1825  introduced  an  ordinance,  which  was  unanimously 
adopted,  directing  the  distribution  to  be  made  to  the  "  Free 
School  Society,  Mechanics'  Society,  the  Orphan  Asylum  So- 
ciety, and  the  trustees  of  the  African  Schools."1 

No  further  agitation  of  the  question  of  the  participation 
of  religious  denominational  schools  in  the  distribution  of  the 
School  Fund  occurred  for  about  ten  years.  The  period 
from  1822  to  1832  witnessed,  as  we  have  seen,  extensive 
changes  in  the  organization,  management,  discipline,  general 
object,  and  even  the  name  of  the  schools  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Society  itself.  The  Free  Schools  had  become  pay  schools, 
and  then  "Public  Schools,"  and  the  Society  was  now  the 
"Public  School  Society."  Its  income  had  greatly  increased, 
while  its  field  of  labor  had  even  outrun  its  means  of  support. 
The  four  schools  of  1822  had  now  become  twelve,  in  nearly 
every  one  of  which  was  a  large  and  flourishing  Primary  De- 
partment ;  and  two  other  buildings  equally  commodious  were 

1  The  schools  and  societies  cut  off  by  this  ordinance  may  be  seen  by  consult- 
ing the  list  of  participators  in  1822  already  given. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  107 

in  contemplation,  having  been  demanded  by  citizens  of  cer- 
tain parts  of  the  rapidly-expanding  community. 

It  will  also  be  remembered  that  in  1829  the  Legislature, 
in  response  to  a  remarkable  petition  from  a  large  portion  of 
the  tax-paying  citizens,  had  granted  for  the  support  of  the 
schools  an  annual  levy  of  one-eightieth  of  one  per  cent,  on  the 
assessed  value  of  city  property,  which  was  only  one-fourth  of 
the  amount  asked  for,  the  remaining  three-fourths  having 
been  omitted  through  the  agency  of  the  Common  Council. 
In  1831  an  effort  was  again  made  to  obtain  the  full  amount 
originally  asked  for  by  the  five  thousand  memoralists.  The 
Common  Council,  by  the  legislation  growing  out  of  the  Bap- 
tist controversy,  and  through  the  Commissioners  of  the  (j|om- 
mon  School  Fund,  were  now  the  agents  in  its  distribution. 
In  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  Society,  they  pre- 
sented a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  in  1831,  but  inserted  a 
clause  providing  that  the  proceeds  of  the  additional  three- 
eightieths  of  one, per  cent,  "shall  be  and  remain  under  the 
immediate  and  sole  control  of  the  Common  Council."1  The  So- 
ciety, alarmed  at  this  new  phase  of  affairs,  made  earnest  ef- 
forts to  have  this  provisional  clause  stricken  out,  in  the  belief 
that  it  was  certain  to  lead  to  a  diversion  of  the  funds  from 
their  legitimate  purposes.  "While  the  matter  was  still  unset- 
tled, formal  application  was  made  to  the  Common  Council  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society  for  their  Orphan 
Asylum,  and  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  behalf  of 
their  charity  schools  for  renewed  admission  to  a  participation 
in  the  school  moneys.  The  petition  in  relation  to  the  Orphan 
Asylum  was  favorably  entertained  by  the  Corporation,  and 
referred  to  a  committee  before  whom  the  Trustees  of  the  Pub- 
lic School  Society  appeared  as  remonstrants,  at  the  same  time, 
through  an  address  which  was  published  in  nearly  all  the 
newspapers,  appealing  to  the  general  public. 

They  alleged  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society 
was  a  close  corporation,  all  of  its  members  being  necessarily 
Catholics ;  that  the  education  they  gave  was  strictly  sectarian, 
1  See  page  57. 


108  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

and  that  if  they  were  admitted  to  participate  in  the  School 
Fund  persons  who  had  conscientious  scruples  against  such 
a  measure  would  be  forced  to  contribute  ;  and  that  such  taxes 
were  in  fact,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  tithes ;  that  the 
decision  of  1825  had  been  thought  to  be  final,  and  proceeded 
from  the  conviction  that  the  school  moneys  ought  not  to  be 
diverted,  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  purposes  of  sectarian  instruc- 
tion, but  should  be  kept  sacred  to  the  great  object  emphatical- 
ly called  "  Common  Education,"  and  that  for  these  reasons  not 
only  the  Eoman  Catholic  Society,  but  other  equally  benevolent 
societies,  among  them  the  highly  meritorious  Female  Associ- 
ation, had  been  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  funds;  that 
it  was  not  in  their  special  favor  that  they  were  willing  to  re- 
ceive all  orphans  of  every  sect,  similar  willingness  being  man- 
ifested by  all  church  schools,  and,  however  well-intentioned, 
would  be  only  a  means  of  proselyting  at  the  public  expense, 
and  that  the  sympathy  naturally  felt  by  every  humane  mind 
for  their  state  of  orphanage  did  not  change  the  principle  in  re- 
gard to  a  school  confessedly  sectarian ;  that  the  high  character, 
interest,  and  manifest  usefulness  of  the  Koman  Catholic  Asy- 
lum call  upon  the  benevolent  for  its  generous  support,  but  only 
by  voluntary  contributions,  and  not  by  compulsory  levies. 

By  the  friends  of  the  Asylum  it  was  argued  that  the  right 
of  their  orphans  to  the  advantages  of  the  school  moneys  was 
in  ever.y  way  equal  to  that  of  the  inmates  of  the  New  York 
Orphan  Asylum,  who  had  for  years  enjoyed  the  benefits 
which  the  state  thus  provided  for  her  needy  and  helpless  lit- 
tle ones,  and  whose  claim  no  one  had  thought  of  disputing ; 
that  if  it  were  true  that  the  institution  whose  rights  they 
sought  was  in  any  sense  a  sectarian  school,  the  same  was 
practically  and  really  true  of  the  other  asylum  which  was  in- 
deed popularly  known  and  designated  as  the  Protestant  Or- 
phan Asylum.  Its  school-books  and  its  religious  exercises 
were,  in  several  important  particulars,  distinctively  Protestant, 
as  was  also  its  management,  although  the  membership  of  the 
Society  was  ostensibly  open  to  all ;  that  the  petitioners  did 
not  seek  to  take  from  these  friendless  ones  the  bounty  which 


THE  KELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  109 

the  state  had  so  wisely  and  in  such  Christian  spirit*  provided, 
but  only  to  have  another  and  equally  necessitous  gathering 
of  homeless  children  admitted  to  the  same  privileges. 

They  also  urged  that  these  little  ones,  and  all  such  as  they, 
though  orphans,  had  equal  rights  with  other  children  in  the 
benefits  provided  for  all,  and  that,  if  any  distinction  was  to  be 
made,  the  loss  of  their  parents  and  their  generally  destitute 
condition  really  gave  them  greater  claims  than  any  other 
class  upon  the  means  provided  for  fitting  them  for  a  self-sus- 
taining citizenship ;  that  their  orphanage  could  not  cause  a 
loss  of  their  rights ;  that  having  now  no  other  home,  and 
no  natural  protectors  to  claim  these  rights  for  them,  the  So- 
ciety was  their  only  remaining  means  of  so  doing ;  that  it  was 
not  asked  that  the  chief  burden,  the  cost  of  their  maintenance, 
should  be  furnished  from  the  public  coffers,  for  they  were  al- 
ready housed,  clothed,  fed,  attended  in  sickness,  and  had  every 
bodily  want  supplied  by  those  "  voluntary  contributions  "  of  the 
benevolent,  which,  as  had  been  alleged  by  their  opponents, 
were  necessary  for  their  general  support,  but  that  in  the  mat- 
ter of  education  the  pecuniary  means  were  already  provided 
for  them,  as  for  all  others,  by  the  whole  community,  and  that 
they  now  looked  to  the  Common  Council  as  their  civil  guard- 
ians, to  see  that  these  benefits  were  no  longer  withheld. 

The  claims  of  the  Asylum  prevailed ;  the  Committee  of 
the  Common  Council,  while  directly  acknowledging  the  sound- 
ness of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  ordinance  of  1825,  could 
not  but  feel  that  the  peculiar  character  of  an  orphan  asylum 
rendered  a  departure  from  the  stringent  and  literal  application 
of  these  principles  a  moral  and  obvious  necessity.  Such  in- 
stitutions were  therefore  to  be  considered  as  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule ;  and  the  committee  having  reported  according- 
ly, their  report  was  adopted,  and  the  Society  admitted  to  par- 
ticipation in  the  school  moneys.  At  the  same  time  the  Com- 
mon Council  compromised  with  the  Public  School  Society 
and  its  friends  by  striking  out  of  the  pending  enactment  the 
clause  relative  to  the  sole  control  of  the  large  additional  tax 
of  three-eightieths  of  one  per  cent.,  and  the  act  passed  the 


110  HISTOKY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

Legislature,  directing  these  new  funds  into  the  'old  channels 
of  distribution. 

The  Methodists  now  renewed  their  claim  in  behalf  of 
such  orphan  children  as  were  attending  their  church  schools, 
and  were  again  opposed  by  the  Public  School  Society ;  but 
the  Common  Council,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  decided  that  ex- 
ceptions to  the  fundamental  rule  could  only  be  made  in  the 
case  of  those  who  had  no  other  home  than  an  asylum,  and 
the  claim  was  accordingly  rejected. 

Meanwhile  the  trustees  continued  their  efforts  to  induce 
their  pupils  to  attend  the  various  Sabbath  Schools,  a  census 
of  the  schools  having  frequently  been  taken  to  determine  the 
proportion  so  attending.1  Persuaded  also  that  there  was  a 
great  middle  ground  upon  which  all  believers  in  a  divine 
revelation  could  harmoniously  stand,  they  again  endeavored 
to  introduce  some  degree  of  systematic  religious  training  in 
their  own  schools  free— in  their  opinion — from  all  offensive 
sectarian  bias.  Toward  the  close  of  1838  a  committee  was 
appointed  "  to  report  upon  the  expediency  of  introducing 
into  all  the  schools  suitable  books  setting  forth  in  concise 
terms  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Christian  religion  free 
from  sectarian  bias  ;  also  special  articles  upon  the  moral  code 
upon  which  the  good  order  and  welfare  of  society  are  based, 
the  substance  of  which  shall  be  committed  to  memory  by  the 
pupils."  The  committee  reported  favorably  as  to  the  gen- 
eral measure,  but  again  urged  that  "  special  care  must  be 
taken  to  avoid  any  instruction  of  a  sectarian  character ;  but 
the  teachers  shall  embrace  every  favorable  opportunity  of 
inculcating  the  general  truths  of  Christianity,  and  the  pri- 
mary importance  of  practical  religious  and  moral  duty,  as 
founded  on  the  precepts  of  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

No  practical  application  seems  to  have  been  found  feasi- 
ble of  that  part  of  the  resolution  which  refers  to  the  intro- 
duction of  suitable  books,  probably  from  a  difficulty  of  find- 
ing or  originating  such  as  would  meet  the  requirements. 

1  Of  an  average  attendance  of  nearly  16,000  in  the  year  1838,  only  3337 
are  reported  as  not  attending  Sabbath  School. 


THE  KELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  Ill 

Early  in  1840  the  Trustees  of  the  Catholic  Free  Schools 
made  application  to  the  Common  Council,  in  whose  hands 
the  law  still  vested  the  distribution  of  the  school  moneys,  for 
a  proportionate  share  in  the  distribution.  The  earnestness, 
respectability,  and  powerful  influence  of  the  applicants,  the 
large  number  of  these  schools,  the  certainty  of  their. rapid 
extension  with  the  growth  of  the  city,  and  equal  certainty 
that  the  success  of  this  application  involved  that  of  all  other 
sectarian  schools,  and  the  consequent  overthrow  of  the 
"  Common "  School  system,  gave  to  the  new  controversy, 
which  immediately  arose,  an  importance  superior  to  any  that 
had  preceded  it.  The  remarkable  talent  engaged  on  both 
sides,  the  interesting  and  exciting  debates  which  took  place 
before  and  in  the  several  deliberative  bodies  to  which  the 
subject  was  in  turn  referred,  and  the  many  and  important  so- 
cial, political,  and  religious  interests  involved  in  the  discus- 
sion, render  it  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  report 
to  do  more  than  make  brief  reference  to  the  subject,  the 
most  essential  points  having  been  already  stated  in  the 
eleventh  chapter  in  reciting  the  origin  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. The  intensity  and  extent  of  the  excitement  pro- 
duced in  the  public  mind,  as  indicated  by  the  utterances  of 
the  public  prints,  of  the  pulpits,  and  of  the  many  meetings 
of  citizens  called  to  consider  and  act  upon  what  was  gen- 
erally felt  to  be  a  question  of  the  first  order  of  importance, 
have  been  already  alluded  to  in  a  previous  portion  of  this 
communication. 

The  application  for  participation  was  followed  by  a  re- 
monstrance from  the  Public  School  Society,  copies  of  this  and 
all  other  important  documents  throughout  the  controversy 
being  widely  circulated.  Objections  having  been  made  to  cer- 
tain books  used  in  the  schools  as  containing  sectarian  passages 
and  depreciating  remarks  and  attacks  upon  the  Eoman  Cath- 
olic religion,  a  committee  of  revision  and  expurgation  was 
appointed  by  the  Society  in  order  to  remove  all  matter  to 
which  reasonable  objection  could  be  made. 

Careful  examination  showed  that  the  charge  was  well- 


112  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

founded,  and  that  the  trustees  had  inadvertently  permitted  a 
serious  evil.  When  patient  and  thorough  investigation  had 
determined  its  full  extent,  a  remedy  was  applied  promptly  and 
completely.  The  expurgation  was  at  once  ordered,  and  the 
work  was  thoroughly  done.  The  calm  judgment  of  all  who 
have  since  studied  the  circumstances  of  the  case  with  the  ob- 
jectionable passages  before  them,  has  justified  and  commend- 
ed this  action  of  the  trustees;  while  the  fact  that  from  that 
time  to  this  book  publishers  and  school  trustees  have  been 
careful  to  exclude  all  such  passages  from  school-books,  so 
as  not  to  expose  themselves  to  similar  difficulty,  is  signifi- 
cant and  sufficient  testimony  both  as  to  its  justice  and  its 
policy. 

A  full  hearing  of  all  parties  was  given  by  the  Common 
Council  and  its  committees,  and  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Assistant  Aldermen,  followed  by  a  similar  one  in  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  dissenting  voice, 
the  remonstrance  of  the  Public  School  Society  was  sustained, 
the  principles  of  the  decision  and  ordinance  of  1825  emphat- 
ically reiterated,  and  the  application  denied. 

An  appeal  was  made  to  the  Legislature.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  the  purpose  of  this  report  to  follow  further  the  out- 
lines of  the  controversy ;  scarcely  any  important  point  was 
raised  which  had  not  been  fully  discussed  in  previous  con- 
troversies. The  attention  which  had  been  drawn  to  the  sub- 
ject, the  interest  generally  taken,  and  the  important  and  del- 
icate nature  of  the  principles  involved,  made  the  task  of  the 
Legislature  no  easy  one.  A  decision  could  not  be  reached  in 
1841,  and  its  transfer  to  the  session  of  1842  gave  time  and 
opportunity  for  the  further  increase  of  the  public  excitement. 
The  proposition  of  the  governor  to  extend  the  state  system 
to  the  wards  of  the  city,  so  as  to  allow  each  to  manage  and 
control  its  own  school  affairs,  was  felt  to  be  the  nearest  ap- 
proach to  a  settlement  which  could  probably  be  made,  and 
cut  the  knot  that  none  could  untie.  Of  course,  both  the  con- 
testants were  disappointed.  The  friends  of  the  Public  School 
Society  considered  that  the  cause  of  public  education  had  re- 


THE  KELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  113 

ceived  irreparable  injury,  and  probably  its  death-blow.  Aft- 
er sufficient  time  had  elapsed  under  the  new  system  to  allow 
the  full  working  of  its  vital  principle,  the  groundlessness  of 
this  fear  was  abundantly  manifest,  and  none  were  more 
ready  to  acknowledge  it  than  those  members  of  the  Society 
who  in  1853  took  their  seats  as  members  of  the  Board  of 
Education. 

During  the  first  years  of  its  existence  the  Board  itself  was 
by  no  means  entirely  free  from  trouble  arising  from  the  same 
subject.  From  the  very  nature  of  its  constitution,  it  contain- 
ed representatives  of  all  sides  of  the  recent  controversy,  and 
its  proceedings  were  not  altogether  harmonious.  But  time 
gradually  closed  all  important  differences ;  changes  bearing 
upon  the  religious  question,  and  which  had  been  proved  nec- 
cessary,  were  made  in  the  organic  law  by  the  Legislature; 
and  with  the  acquisition  of  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  the 
Public  School  Society  to  the  councils  of  the  Board,  all  irrita- 
tion ceased,  and  the  vexed  question  no  longer  agitates  the 
community. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  fundamental  principle  upon  which 
the  system  was  established  in  1842,  and  that,  under  such  lim- 
itations and  checks  as  experience  has  proved  to  be  necessary 
for  the  general  interest,  the  several  boards  of  trustees  "  have 
power  to  conduct  and  manage  the  schools,"  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  report  of  S.  S.  Randall,  City  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  will  sufficiently  exhibit  the  present  condition  and 
harmonious  operation  of  the  system  as  now  existing.  It 
must  also  be  remembered  that  every  school  is  open,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  to  the  children  of  all  citizens,  without 
distinction  of  ward  lines ;  so  that  if  there  be  any  thing  in  the 
local  management  unsatisfactory  to  any  parent,  there  are  al- 
ways schools  within  a  very  short  distance  where  no  such  ob- 
jection will  be  found ;  and  that  as  a  result  of  this,  all  may 
feel  safe  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  religious  influence. 

"  In  all  our  public  schools  and  departments,  at  frequent  and 
appropriate  intervals  during  the  day,  songs  imbued  with  the 
purest  principles  of  Christian  morality  form  a  portion  of  the 

H 


11-1  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

course  of  instruction,  and  are  participated  in  by  all  the  pupils. 
In  all  of  them,  without  a  solitary  exception,  lessons  and  pre- 
cepts of  virtue  and  Christian  conduct  are  daily  inculcated  by 
the  teachers,  school-officers,  superintendents,  or  visitors,  the 
fundamental  principles  of  religion  recognized  and  enforced, 
and  the  importance  and  necessity  of  strict  honesty  and  integ- 
rity, undeviating  truthfulness,  frankness,  sincerity,  mutual  af- 
fection and  regard,  obedience  and  respect  to  parents,  and  the 
conscientious  and  uniform  observance  of  all  the  requisitions 
of  a  pure  Christian  morality  taught  by  precept  and  example. 
In  all  of  them  the  daily  routine  and  discipline  of  the  school 
are  directly  and  powerfully  adapted  to  the  formation  and  per- 
petuation of  habits  of  order,  quietude,  neatness,  punctuality, 
fidelity,  industry,  obedience,  honor,  truth,  uprightness,  defer- 
ence to  the  wants,  the  rights,  and  conveniences  of  others,  and 
to  the  assiduous  culture  of  the  highest  and  noblest  principles 
of  action  and  conduct  in  all  the  varied  relations  of  life.  This 
is  the  character  of  'the  teachings  of  our  public  schools,  these 
are  the  agencies  and  instrumentalities  in  daily  operation  with- 
in their  walls;  and  no  influences  at  variance  with  these  are 
permitted,  under  any  pretense,  to  find  access  or  gain  a  foot- 
ing among  them.  Neither  the  mind  nor  the  heart  of  the 
child  most  religiously  and  scrupulously  trained  and  disci- 
plined in  the  domestic  circle  or  the  sanctuary  of  the  Church, 
is  exposed  to  the  slightest  contamination  by  the  instruction 
or  discipline  of  the  school ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  every 
lesson  of  pure  Christian  morality  or  ethics,  communicated  in 
either  of  the  former,  is  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  the 
pervading  instruction  and  influence  of  the  latter."1 

In  concluding  this  part  of  the  report,  it  seems  indispensa- 
ble that  some  reference  should  again  be  made  to  a  subject 
which  has  already  received  incidental  mention — the  expansion 
of  the  systems  of  Sunday  School  instruction.  Every  form  of 
distinctive  religious  organization,  Christian  or  Hebrew,  is  en- 
gaged, with  greater  or  less  earnestness  and  success,  in  this 

1  Report  of  City  Superintendent  of  Schools. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  QUESTION.  115 

important  field  of  effort.  In  these  useful  institutions  are 
gathered  by  far  the  larger  part  of  all  the  children,  attending, 
during  five  other  days  of  the  week,  the  various  secular  schools, 
public  and  private.  Divided  into  little  classified  groups  of 
from  four  or  five  to  a  dozen  pupils  of  every  age,  from  lisping 
infancy  to  early  manhood  or  womanhood,  they  are  committed 
to  a  vast  array  of  devoted  teachers,  selected  from  the  best  and 
purest  of  the  self-denying  elements  of  the  various  religious 
bodies,  each  filled  with  love  and  sympathy  for  the  little  band 
of  immortal  spirits,  and  prayerfully  endeavoring  to  instill 
those  religious  principles,  distinctive  or  general,  which  they 
conscientiously  believe  necessary  for  present  guidance  and 
for  future  happiness.  Each  religious  body,  in  conformity  to 
its  peculiar  organization,  is  thus  enabled  to  bring  its'  choicest 
talent,  its  concentrated  efforts,  and  its  most  approved  super- 
vision and  direction,  to  the  moulding  of  the  religious  charac- 
ter of  those  who  are  rightly  considered  its  most  precious  trust 
Year  by  year,  the  many  powerful  associations  and  societies, 
with  their  varying  degrees  of  organic  compactness,  are  devel- 
oping a  greater  and  greater  skill  and  zeal  in  the  special  work 
to  which  they  are  devoted.  Practically  each  denomination 
is  coming  more  and  more  distinctly  to  realize  that  the  true 
protection  o£  the  young  from  adverse  proselyting  influences 
is  to  be  found,  not  in  withdrawing  them  from  the  common 
ground  of  the  future  citizens,  the  Common  School,  but  in 
thus  fortifying  their  minds  and  hearts,  through  the  teaching 
of  parents  and  the  systematic  weekly  training  of  special  relig- 
ious instructors. 


116  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


XV. 

THE  VAGRANT  QUESTION. 

Original  Purpose  of  Free  School  Society. — Special  Efforts  in  1819  and  1821.— 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism. — House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile 
Delinquents. — Renewed  Efforts  of  1828. — Appointment  of  Mr.  Seton  as 
Visitor. — His  Reports. — Efforts  of  1832. — Coercive  Measures  of  the  Com- 
mon Council. — Their  Failure. — Extra  Meeting  of  1838. — Its  Report. — 
Results. — Five  Visitors  appointed. — Plan  abandoned  in  1841. — Relation 
of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Question. — Industrial  Schools. — Truant 
Laws. — Difficulties  of  the  Subject.— Census. 

THE  original  purpose  of  the  Free  School  Society,  as  set 
forth  in  its  first  charter  and  title,  was  "  for  the  Establishment 
of  a  Free  School  for  the  Education  of  Poor  Children  who 
do  not  belong  to  or  are  not  provided  for  by  any  Keligious  So- 
ciety." A  like  school,  but  for  the  benefit  of  female  children 
only,  had  been  opened  a  few  years  before  by  the  Female  As- 
sociation, while  both  of  these  were  preceded  as  early  as  1787 
by  an  essentially  similar  institution  for  the  children  of  manu- 
mitted slaves.  Both  of  these  schools,  with  some  others  of  an 
analogous  character,  were,  as  we  have  already  seen,  finally 
merged  into  the  Free  School  or  Public  School  Society,  either 
by  formal  transfer  or  silent  absorption. 

In  the  rapid  expansion  which  the  excellence  of  its  man- 
agement, the  efficiency  of  its  system,  and  the  high  social  po- 
sition and  devoted  attention  of  its  members  secured  to  this 
vigorous  society,  their  original  function  and  purpose  unavoid- 
ably came  to  be  more  and  more  subordinate  to  the  new  and 
wider  duties  which  circumstances  devolved  upon  them.  Yet 
they  never  lost  sight  of  this  their  first  field  of  labor.  During 
the  whole  period  of  their  corporate  existence  the  subject 
claimed  and  received  much  of  their  systematic  and  benevolent 
attention,  and  for  the  first  ten  or  fifteen  years  gave  shape,  in  a 


THE  VAGKANT  QUESTION.  117 

greater  or  less  degree,  to  their  entire  policy.  So  thoroughly 
did  they  set  forth  their  claims  as  conducting  the  schools  of 
the  poor,  that  to  this  day  it  is  by  no  means  rare  to  find  per- 
sons still  imbued  with  the  idea  that  all  public  schools  are,  and 
necessarily  must  be,  charity  schools ;  even  going  so  far  as  to 
censure  such  of  the  wealthier  portion  of  the  community  as 
send  their  children  to  participate  in  their  advantages  for  oc- 
cupying places  to  the  exclusion  of  those  to  whom  they  right- 
fully belong.  This  ingrained  and  antique  misconception  of 
the  function  of  the  Common  Schools  was  a  serious  obstacle 
to  their  progress  until  after  the  act  of  1842,  by  which  the 
schools  were  placed  more  immediately  under  the  control  of 
the  people.  So  complete  has  since  been  the  change  in  the 
views  of  the  more  intelligent  portion  of  the  community,  that 
such  persons  are  more  and  more  looked  upon  as  curious  fossil 
intellects,  and  must  soon  come  to  be  an  altogether  extinct  race. 

Yet  the  number  of  poor,  neglected,  and  untaught  children  is 
far  greater  than  ever,  increasing  with  the  growth  of  the  city, 
and  calling  upon  the  philanthropic  for  their  most  earnest 
efforts  in  their  behalf.  From  various  causes,  and  notwith- 
standing the  most  vigorous  exertions  to  secure  their  attend- 
ance, they  constitute  but  a  comparatively  small  proportion- 
ate part  of  the  vast  army  of  children  in  our  Public  Schools. 
The  position  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  relation  to  this 
mass  of  mental  and  moral  destitution  will  be  considered  in 
the  sequel. 

Early  in  1819  a  special  effort  was  made  to  bring  a  larger 
number  of  neglected  boys  into  the  Free  Schools.  The  So- 
ciety at  this  time  had  three  schools :  Nos.  1  and  2  had  long 
been  established ;  No.  3  had  just  been  opened  in  temporary 
quarters  in  the  village  of  Greenwich,  and  the  new  building, 
No.  4,  in  Eivington  Street,  near  the  extreme  northeastern 
limit  of  the  city,  was  nearly  ready  for  occupancy.  In  No.  2, 
a  portion  of  the  pupils  being  girls,  it  was  resolved  to  transfer 
these  to  the  schools  of  the  Female  Association,  in  order  to 
make  room  for  such  poor  boys  as  could  be  induced  to  attend. 
Accordingly  hand-bills  were  circulated  throughout  the  east- 


118  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

era  part  of  the  city  inviting  their  attendance,  soliciting  the 
co-operation  of  the  benevolent  to  this  end,  and  stating  that 
on  this  account  no  more  girls  would  be  admitted. 

The  subject  of  such  poor  children  was  again  claiming  the 
serious  attention  of  all  thoughtful  citizens.  It  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  chief  purpose  of  the  Society  at  its  establish- 
ment in  1805.  It  was  now  again  so  prominent  a  theme 
among  the  benevolent  that  a  society  known  as  the  "  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism"  had  been  organized,1  its 

1  The  formation  of  this  Society  was  chiefly  due  to  the  efforts  of  a  remarka- 
ble and  useful  man,  Professor  John  Griscom.  A  portion  of  its  labors  has 
so  direct  a  bearing  upon  the  subject  under  consideration  as  to  require  more 
than  a  passing  notice  of  the  Society  itself.  It  was  publicly  organized  on  the 
16th  of  December,  1817,  at  the  New  York  Hospital,  at  a  meeting  of  which 
General  Clarkson  was  chairman,  and  Divie  Bethune  secretary.  A  commit- 
tee was  appointed  "  to  prepare  a  constitution,  and  a  statement  of  the  prevail- 
ing causes  of  pauperism,  with  suggestions  relative  to  the  most  suitable  and 
efficient  remedies."  Mr.  Griscom  was  chairman  of  the  committee,  which  also 
comprised  seven  other  leading  citizens.  Their  report  was  written  by  the  chair- 
man, and  was  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  first  of  the  essays  on  pauperism 
and  its  preventives  which  have  appeared  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  is  a 
very  able  document,  and  drew  much  attention  both  hi  this  country  and  in 
Europe.  The  constitution  defined  the  objects  of  the  Society  to  be  as  follows : 
"To  investigate  the  circumstances  and  habits  of  the  poor;  to  devise  means 
for  improving  their  situation  both  in  a  physical  and  moral  point  of  view  ;  to 
suggest  plans  for  calling  into  exercise  their  own  endeavors,  and  to  afford  the 
means  of  giving  them  increased  effect ;  to  hold  out  inducements  to  economy 
and  saving  from  the  fruits  of  their  own  industry  in  seasons  of  greater  abun- 
dance ;  to  discountenance,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  prevent  mendicity  and  street- 
begging  ;  and,  in  fine,  to  do  every  thing  which  may  tend  to  meliorate  their 
condition  by  stimulating  their  industry  and  exciting  their  own  energies."  The 
report  was  an  analysis  of  the  causes  of  and  remedies  for  pauperism.  These 
causes  were  stated  to  be,  1st.  Ignorance ;  2d.  Idleness ;  3d.  Intemperance ;  4th. 
Want  of  Economy  ;  5th.  Imprudent  and  Hasty  Marriages ;  Gth.  Lotteries  ;  7th. 
Pawnbrokers  ;  8th.  Houses  of  Ill-fame ;  9th.  The  numerous  Charitable  Institu- 
tions of  the  City ;  10th.  War.  These  were  severally  discussed  at  length,  and 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  the  writer  had  studied  both  their  theory  and 
application. 

Many  valuable  results  followed  the  efforts  of  this  noble  society ;  among 
them,  the  establishment  of  the  first  Savings'  Bank,  the  Apprentices'  Library, 
and  the  House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile  Delinquents. 

The  substance  of  this  note  is  from  a  Memoir  of  John  Griscom,  N.  Y.,  1859, 
by  his  son,  John  H.  Griscom,  M.D. 


THE  VAGRANT   QUESTION.  119 

individual  members  being,  to  a  great  extent,  identical  with 
those  of  the  Free  School  Society.  It  was  already  practically 
realized  that  in  this  wide  field  at  least  two  distinct  depart- 
ments of  labor  were  necessary,  although  these  might  have 
intimate  relations  to  each  other ;  that  the  details  of  the  ade- 
quate support  and  efficient  management  and  inspection  of  an 
increasing  system  of  schools  made  larger  and  larger  demands 
upon  the  disposable  time  of  those  who  had  them  in  charge ; 
while  the  growth  of  the  city,  and  particularly  from  the  char- 
acter of  a  part  of  the  large  immigration,  the  great  increase  in 
this  class  of  the  juvenile  population  furnished  abundant  room 
for  the  efforts  of  those  who  would  make  this  their  sole  care. 

The  new  Society  reported  in  1820  that  there  were  proba- 
bly some  7000  or  more  children  of  proper  age  who  attended 
no  school.  The  entire  population  of  the  city  at  this  time  was 
about  130,000.  A  memorial  on  the  subject  was  presented 
to  the  Legislature  by  the  Free  School  Society  in  1821,  and 
aid  asked  to  provide  more  extended  accommodation,  their 
schools  being  then  already  full.  In  1824,  through  the  agency 
of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism,  the  House  of 
Eefuge  for  Juvenile  Delinquents  was  incorporated,  the  insti- 
tution being  opened  on  the  1st  of  January,  1825.1  It  was 
the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States,  and  still  remains  one 
of  the  most  important  of  our  reformatory  agencies.  Its  estab- 

1  The  committee  whose  report  in  1823  led  to  the  establishment  of  this  valu- 
able institution  consisted  of  Professor  Griscom,  Isaac  Collins,  Cornelius  Du- 
bois,  Hiram  Ketchum,  Daniel  Lord,  Jr.,  William  M.  Carter,  and  James  W. 
Gerard;  all  of  them  gentlemen  who  have  done  much  for  the  defense  or  ad- 
vancement of  the  interests  of  public  education,  more  particularly  the  last 
named,  whose  cheerful  face,  gratuitous  instructive  lectures,  and  encouraging 
and  active  sympathy,  have  endeared  him  to  every  pupil  and  every  teacher  in 
our  city  Grammar  Schools.  His  interest  is  as  marked  as  ever,  and  he  is  still  a 
respected  member  of  the  Board  of  Inspectors  of  our  city  schools.  He  has  the 
high  honor  of  having  been  the  actual  originator  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  his 
address  to  the  citizens  of  New  York  delivered  in  1823,  and  now  about  to  be 
republished  in  a  special  history  of  that  institution,  being  the  first  step  toward 
its  establishment.  It  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  wise  forecast  and  broad  and 
generous  philanthropy.  To  his  persistent  eiforts  New  York  also  owes  its  uniform- 
ed police. 


120  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

lishment  marks  also  the  first  of  the  compulsory  measures 
which  have  in  various  sections  of  the  country  been  deemed 
expedient  to  secure  the  education  of  the  "dangerous  or  per- 
ishing classes."  It  was  pronounced  by  De  Witt  Clinton 
"  the  best  penitentiary  institution  ever  devised  by  the  wit  or 
established  by  the  beneficence  of  man." 

In  1825  the  total  population  under  the  age  of  16  years 
was  estimated  at  53,000.  About  27,000  were  between  the 
age  of  five  and  fifteen  years,  and  of  these  20,000  were  taught, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  the  various  public  and  private 
schools,  and  about  7000  were  not  taught  at  all.1  The  direct 
and  indirect  *  personal  efforts  of  the  members  of  the  Free 
School  Society,  together  with  those  of  their  families  and 
friends,  had  heretofore  been  chiefly  relied  upon  as  a  means 
of  bringing  into  the  schools  this  class  of  neglected  children. 

In  1828  the  evil  had  grown  to  such  magnitude  that  the 
Society  felt  compelled  to  appoint  a  special  agent  to  visit  the 
families  of  the  poor  and  urge  the  attendance  of  their  children. 
They  were  remarkably  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  this  offi- 
cer. Among  the  most  earnest  and  efficient  members  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  was  a  gentleman  whose  cultivated  mind, 
ready  speech,  affable  manners,  and  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  the  poor,  rendered  him  in  every  way  qualified  for 
so  difficult  and  delicate  a  mission.  For  many  years  he  had 
labored  in  this  wide  field  during  such  brief  intervals  as  a 
business  life  affords.  Now,  at  what  he  felt  to  be  the  call  of 
duty,  he  abandoned  his  business  life  with  all  its  hopes,  and 
for  a  salary  of  $800  a  year  devoted  all  his  time  and  all 
his  energies  to  his  new  office  of  Visitor.  All  honor  to  SAM- 
UEL W.  SETON.  Such  men  are  far  too  few.  For  nearly  half 
a  century,  and  in  various  capacities,  he  has  continued  faith- 
fully to  labor  for  the  children  of  our  city,  and  still,  as  assist- 
ant and  associate  of  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  af- 
fords us  the  benefit  of  his  councils  and  of  his  long  experience. 

His  first  report,  dated  only  a  few  months  after  entering 
upon  his  official  duties,  shows  that  with  characteristic  energy 

1  Approximate  estimates  in  the  17th  Report  of  the  Free  School  Society. 


THE  VAGRANT  QUESTION.  121 

he  had  already  visited  about  1700  families,  representing  about 
10,000  individuals,  of  whom  over  3700  were  children.  Many 
were  induced  to  go  to  school,  but  much  difficulty  was  expe- 
rienced in  getting  them  to  become  regular  attendants'. 

Notwithstanding  all  their  efforts,  in  1829  and  1830  the  So- 
ciety was  the  subject  of  many  and  repeated  attacks  in  the 
newspapers  because  of  the  great  number  of  vagrant  children 
in  the  streets.  A  careful  analysis  of  the  reports  of  the  visitor, 
as  well  as  the  individual  experience  of  other  members,  showed 
that  the  chief  causes  were  the  poverty  and  apathy  of  ignorant 
parents.  In  1831  the  visitor's  report  advises  some  form  of 
coercive  law,  and  the  withholding  of  municipal  and  other  as- 
sistance from  all  families  that  neglect  to  send  their  children 
to  some  school.  In  1832,  the  Society,  with  growing  concern 
at  the  increasing  magnitude  of  the  evil  and  their  own  compar- 
ative want  of  success  notwithstanding  their  urgent  efforts,  ap- 
pointed a  special  committee  to  investigate  the  condition  of  the 
same  question  in  other  communities,  and  to  report  such  meas- 
ures as  they  might  deem  adequate.  The  school  system  of 
Boston  being  at  that  time  by  general  consent  considered  the 
most  developed,  the  committee  visited  that  city,  to  benefit  as 
far  as  might  be  by  the  experience  of  another  community.  Two 
special  queries  were  to  receive  their  attention :  the  proportion 
of  children  of  school  age  actually  attending  school,  and  the 
means  found  most  efficient  in  securing  attendance.  In  regard 
to  the  first,  an  immense  difference  was  found  in  the  relative 
attendance  in  the  schools  of  the  two  cities,  being  largely  in 
favor  of  Boston,  This  was  chiefly  attributed  to  the  many 
Dame  Schools  for  the  younger  children  scattered  through- 
out the  city,  securing  the  attendance  of  the  pupils  while  yet 
very  young,  and  thus  forming  habits  of  regular  attendance 
not  so  easily  established  after  long  education  in  the  streets 
alone.  As  we  have  already  seen,  the  same  policy  was  now 
adopted  by  the  Society,  and  the  great  system  of  Primary 
Schools  was  established,  with  a  success  that  fully  established 
the  wisdom  of  the  measure.  This  was  in  part  an  answer  to 
the  second  query.  It  was  also  found  that  in  Boston  there 


122  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

were  far  more  stringent  truant  and  other  coercive  laws,  and 
that  these  were  more  rigidly  enforced.  Habitual  truants  were 
almost  certain  to  find  themselves,  sooner  or  later,  members  of 
the  School  of  Eeformation,  the  local  equivalent  for  our  House 
of  Kefuge.  There  were  also  a  far  less  proportion  of  the  un- 
desirable elements  of  immigration,  and  a  more  general  and 
longer  established  popular  habit  of  obedience  to  coercive  laws 
when  found  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  general  public. 
Efforts  were  accordingly  made  by  the  Public  School  Society 
for  analogous  restrictions.  In  the  report  in  which  these  views 
are  advocated,  and  which  was  printed  in  many  of  the  city 
journals,  they  argued  that  "  Every  political  compact  implies 
the  surrender  of  some  individual  rights  for  the  public  good. 
In  our  government,  universal  education  is  indispensable  to 
permanency ;  and  therefore,  if  parents  are  so  ignorant  or  so 
careless  as  to  neglect  it,  authority  should  compel.  "We  must 
have  safe  and  consistent  members  of  society." 

The  subject  was  brought  before  the  proper  authorities, 
and  steps  were  taken  to  carry  out  the  suggestions  of  the  So- 
ciety. In  April,  1832,  the  following  resolutions  passed  the 
several  branches  of  the  city  government : 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse  be  requested  to- 
make  it  known  to  parents  and  all  persons,  whether  immigrants 
or  otherwise,  having  children  in  charge,  that  unless  said  par- 
ents and  persons  do  and  shall  send  such  children  to  some  pub- 
lic or  other  daily  school  for  such  time  in  each  year  as  the 
Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society  may  from  time  to  time, 
designate,  that  all  such  persons  must  consider  themselves  out 
of  the  pale  of  the  public  charities,  and  not  entitled,  in  case  of 
misfortune,  to  receive  public  favor. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Almshouse  are  hereby  author- 
ized to  take  such  steps  as  they  may  deem  expedient  from 
time  to  time  to  give  publicity  to  these  resolutions,  and  the 
commissioners  are  hereby  requested  to  use  such  means1  as  may 
be  in  their  power  and  discretion  to  carry  the  same  into  effect." 


THE   VAGRANT   QUESTION.  123 

Large  printed  copies  of  these  resolutions,  duly  authentica- 
ted, were  posted  throughout  the  city,  and  20,000  other  copies 
in  the  form  of  handbills,  with  a  suitable  caption,  were  circu- 
lated by  Mr.  Seton. 

For  a  short  time  a  limited  beneficial  effect  followed  these 
strong  measures;  but  for  several  reasons  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  secure  their  general  enforcement,  and  the  whole 
plan  was  soon  abandoned  as  impracticable.  There  were  so 
many  cases  of  extreme  and  utter  poverty  that  a  rigid  appli- 
cation of  these  regulations  would  have  been  unpardonable 
cruelty. 

The  Society,  however,  was  far  from  abandoning  the  sub- 
ject as  hopeless.  Yarious  efforts  were  from  time  to  time 
made,  and,  in  1838,  the  subject  again  assumed  such  import- 
ance that  on  the  19th  of  December  of  that  year  an  extra 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  called  "  to  devise  meas- 
ures to  increase  the  attendance,  especially  of  vagrant  chil- 
dren." A  full  report  was  presented  by  a  special  committee. 

The  chief  obstacles  were  of  two  classes.  The  first  were 
moral,  and  among  these  were  enumerated  the  indifference 
and  viciousness  of  both  parents  and  children — the  results  of 
ignorance,  intemperance,  and  indolence — the  dislike  of  such 
children  to  all  proper  control,  and  their  love  of  the  excite- 
ments and  amusements  of  the  streets.  The  second  class  of 
obstacles  were  physical,  and  were  only  phases  and  accompani- 
ments of  extreme  poverty — want  of  clothing,  and  the  need 
of  some  help  by  the  children  themselves. 

The  committee  had  again  sought  the  accumulated  experi- 
ences of  neighboring  states  and  cities  in  dealing  with  the  for- 
midable evil.  Connecticut  had  statutory  provisions  which, 
probably  from  their  stringency,  were  rarely  enforced  j1  and 
the  opinion  is  expressed  that  "the  morbidly  excitable  sensi- 

1  Parents  and  guardians  were  required  by  statute  to  have  their  children  taught 
to  read  and  write,  and  to  cipher  as  far  as  through  the  "four  rules."  The  se- 
lectmen were  instructed  to  inspect  the  conduct  of  the  heads  of  families,  and, 
in  case  of  neglect,  "shall  take  charge  of  and  bind  out  the  children  of  such 
parents."  *  *  *  "When  children  or  minors  are  stubborn  and  refuse  to  obey 
their  parents,  they  may  be  committed  to  the  county  jail  for  thirty  days." 


12-i  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

tiveness  of  our  laboring  classes  would  not  permit  a  scrutiny 
of  so  inquisitorial  a  character."  An  interesting  communication 
had  also  been  received  from  Boston,  but  seems  to  have'  em- 
braced no  new  points.  The  various  measures  hitherto  em- 
ployed at  various  times  by  the  Society  were  then  passed  in 
review;  printed  addresses,  tracts,  cards,  circulars,  visits  of 
trustees,  of  teachers,  and  of  the  special  agent ;  the  last  having 
uniformly  produced  the  best  results. 

The  report  concludes  with  several  recommendations :  the 
appointment  of  three  visitors,  a  modified  form  of  compulsory 
law,  and  the  establishment  of  a  Farm  Eeform  School  in  an 
insular  position. 

A  memorial  to  the  Corporation  was  also  presented  and 
adopted.  This  recites  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  schools, 
but  laments  "  that  so  small  a  number  of  those  for  whom  they 
were  originally  intended  "  were  found  in  them.  It  asks  that 
measures  be  taken  to  enlighten  public  opinion  upon  the 
subject,  and  that  authority  may  intervene  to  prevent  the  stol- 
id ignorance  and  indifference  of  parents  from  robbing  their 
children  of  an  education,  and  thus  injuring  society.  It  fur- 
ther refers  to  the  delicate  and  difficult  problem  of  "  how  to 
reconcile  the  principles  of  free  government  with  the  necessary 
enforcement  of  such  laws  as  must  supersede  in  such  cases  the 
parental  authority,"  and  concludes  by  urging  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Farm  School,  a  renewal  of  the  handbills  of  1832, 
and  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  for  a  law  for  the  control 
of  refractory  minors. 

The  results  of  all  these  efforts  were  not  encouraging.  The 
Corporation  refused  all  compulsory  measures.  Four  visitors 
were  employed  by  the  trustees,  and  many  children  were  thus 
brought  in,  but  comparatively  few  could  be  induced  to  stay. 
In  one  report  it  is  stated  that  out  of  1177  vagrant  children 
admitted,  only  356  remained.  The  plan  was  faithfully  tried 
under  the  vigilant  attention  of  a  select  committee  of  five  for 
three  or  four  years,  but  with  less  and  less  beneficial  results  to 
justify  the  necessary  expenditure,  and  in  18-il  it  was  reluc- 
tantly abandoned. 


THE  VAGRANT   QUESTION.  125 

Iii  the  interval  between  the  establishment  of  the  Board 
of  Education  in  1842  and  its  absorption  of  the  Public  School 
Society  in  1853,  neither  of  the  two  bodies  was  enabled  to  pay 
marked  attention  to  this  important  subject.  The  time,  means, 
and  energies  of  the  first  were  fully  occupied,  through  the 
local  boards,  in  establishing  the  various  schools  which  were 
called  for  by  the  people  of  their  respective  wards.  The  lat- 
ter body,  as  we  have  seen,  had  more  than  enough  to  do  in 
continuing  the  schools  already  in  their  charge. 

But  the  attention  of  the  benevolent  had  by  no  means  re- 
laxed in  relation  to  the  interests  of  this  class  of  our  popula- 
tion. Yarious  societies  had  sprung  up  in  rapid  succession, 
many  of  them  occupying  wide  fields  of  labor,  and  most  of 
them  making  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  children  an 
important,  if  not  the  principal  department  of  their  efforts. 
Among  these  we  may  mention  as  yet  in  full  and  useful  oper- 
ation, the  Home  of  the  Friendless,  established  in  1848, 1  with 
its  dependent  schools,  now  seven  in  number  and  providing 
last  year  for  some  3700  little  ones ;  the  Five  Points'  House  of 
Industry  and  the  Five  Points'  Mission  in  1850 ;  the  Juvenile 
Asylum,  the  Orphan  Home  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
and  the  New  York  House  and  School  of  Industry  in  1851 ;  and 
the  Children's  Aid  Society  in  1853,  now  numbering,  among 
its  many-sided  operations,  sixteen  schools,  with  nearly  2500 
on  their  rolls,  and  providing  more  or  less  during  the  past 
37ear  for  the  education,  food,  and  clothing  of  at  least  4000 
children.  Conspicuous  among  the  various  agencies  in  this 
unspeakably  important  work,  directly  or  indirectly  originat- 
ing many  of  the  above-named  institutions,  and  assisting 
many  thousands  of  suffering  families  so  as  to  enable  them  to 
keep  their  children  at  the  Public  Schools,  was  that  yet  active 
society,  the  "New  York  Association  for  Improving  the  Con- 
dition of  the  Poor." 

The  efforts  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  have  also  been 
largely  directed  to  the  same  field,  and  many  noble  institu- 
tions both  on  this  island  and  its  immediate  neighborhood 

1  The  American  Female  Guardian  Society  itself  was  founded  in  1834. 


126  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

bear  eloquent  witness  to   the   comprehensive  and  practical 
benevolence  of  this  ancient  organization. 

Most  of  these  schools  and  asylums,  together  with  others 
previously  or  since  established,  have  been  admitted  to  partici- 
pate in. the  school  moneys,  subject  to  the  inspection  of  the 
Board  of  Education ;  a  list  of  those  so  participating  will  be 
found  in  the  statistical  portion  of  this  report.  .. 

In  1853,  under  pressure  of  the  influence  of  large  numbers 
of  benevolent  persons,  the  Legislature  passed  a  stringent  truant 
law,  applicable  to  cities  and  incorporated  villages  throughout 
the  state.  "  It  authorized  the  arrest  of  all  such  children  be- 
tween five  and  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  their  examination 
before  a  magistrate.  If  their  parents  or  guardians  did  not 
give  bonds  to  send  them  to  school  or  keep  them  employed, 
then  the  magistrate  could  issue  his  warrant  to  commit  them 
to  some  place  of  detention — the  almshouse,  jail,  or  peniten- 
tiary, until  they  could  be  bound  out  to  service.  It  was 
made  the  duty  of  the  cities  and  villages  to  provide  some  suit- 
able place  for  the  reception  of  such  children,  their  employ- 
ment, and  their  education  in  the  elementary  branches  of 
knowledge,  and  for  their  proper  support  and  clothing."1 

About  this  period  the  subject  became  a  prominent  topic 
of  interest  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Board  of  Education. 
Scarcely  a  year  has  since  passed  in  which  it  has  not  been  felt 
to  be  a  matter  of  extreme  concern,  and  in  some  years  has  been 
the,  chief  subj  ect  of  anxiety.  There  are  two  principal  consider- 
ations which  have  constituted  the  basis  of  this  anxiety  :  first, 
and  most  important,  the  urgent  necessities  of  this  particular 
class  of  children  themselves ;  and,  secondly,  the  fact  that  the 
necessity  to  the  whole  community  that  education  should  be 
universal  is  a  main,  and  even  the  chief  argument  for  its  public 
support ;  in  other  words,  that  the  increase  of  this  necessitous 
and  dangerous  class  of  our  juvenile  population  places  in  jeop- 
ardy the  very  foundations  of  public  instruction.  The  ques- 
tion has  been  attacked  with  greater  or  less  vigor.  Its  con- 
sideration by  successive  Boards,  constitutes  a  very  large  share 

1  As  given  in  abstract  in  Superintendent  Rice's  Report. 


THE  VAGRANT  QUESTION.  127 

of  the  documentary  history,  but  it  still  remains  an  unsolved 
problem.  The  difficulties  are  manifold,  and  complex  in  their 
character.  The  Board  of  Education  very  properly  has  no  form 
of  police  power.  The  authority  to  arrest  vagrants,  and  the 
authority  to  dispose  of  them,  are  committed  to  other  and  not  al- 
ways harmonious  branches  of  the  city  government.  There  is 
also  a  deep-seated  feeling  that  the  masses  of  our  city  popula- 
tion, and  especially  the  classes  more  directly  interested,  would 
not  peaceably  allow  the  general  enforcement  of  such  laws  as 
we  now  have.  It  is  also  apprehended  that  the  cry  of  "  relig- 
ious proselytism"  might  easily  be  raised  upon  the  slightest  ba- 
sis, popular  resentment  of  official  interference  be  aroused  upon 
the  occurrence  of  some  unavoidable  mistake,  and  the  peace 
of  the  community  be  thus 'put  in  danger.  These  fears  are 
probably  more  or  less  unfounded,  yet,  in  connection  with 
some  other  considerations,  they  have  heretofore  assisted  to  pre- 
vent any  continued  and  general  effort  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
vision of  the  law.  Already  overburdened  with  so  many 
other  duties  and  responsibilities,  our  justices  naturally  shrink 
from  a  department  of  action  so  difficult,  troublesome,  and 
delicate.  While  the  openly  vicious  and  criminal  may  be 
promptly  disposed  of,  police  officers  would  naturally  hesi- 
tate to  arrest  children  whose  only  crime  is  to  have  parents 
so  poor  as  to  be  unable  to  furnish  them  sufficient  clothing  to 
go  to  school,  who  possess  no  home  but  the  crowded,  ill- venti- 
lated room  in  some  dirty  tenement-house,  and  whose  only 
place  of  exercise  is  the  public  street.  The  number  of  those 
who  may  be  classed  as  suffering  extreme  poverty  is  beyond 
conception,  except  to  those  whose  self-imposed  philanthopic 
labors  have  made  them  familiar  with  the  homes  of  the  poor. 
The  experience  of  the  Public  School  Society  has  been  again 
and  again  confirmed  by  that  of  the  "Ward  Schools.  Where 
the  lowest  orders  of  such  pupils  are  brought  in,  it  seems  al- 
most impossible  to  induce  them  to  continue,  and  the  causes 
of  this  must  be  obvious  to  every  experienced  student  of  hu- 
man nature.  In  the  majority  of  instances,  both  they  and  their 
parents  are  extremely  sensitive  concerning  their  personal  ap- 


128  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

pearance  when  brought  into  contrast  with  those  who  are  bet- 
ter provided  for,  and  avoid  this  added  suffering  by  their  ab- 
sence. Both  children  and  parents  need  material  aid — food 
and  clothing,  and  the  opportunities  and  inducements  to  per- 
sonal cleanliness.  These  are  indispensable  in  securing  their 
attendance,  but  their  supply  is  beyond  the  province  of  the 
Board  of  Education.  It  has  again  and  again  been  demon- 
strated that  the  efforts  of  public  officials  must  ever  be  inade- 
quate to  master  the  giant  evil.  The  demoralizing  effect  of 
training  this  class  of  the  community  to  rely  upon  public  sup- 
port instead  of  their  own  exertions  is  but  too  well  known. 

It  is  these  considerations  that  give  such  importance  and 
value  to  the  labors  of  the  benevolent  societies  that  have  made 
this  the  chief  or  entire  department  of  their  philanthropic  ef- 
forts. A  host  of  unofficial  visitors  and  other  agents  actuated 
by  the  noblest  motives,  and  learning  by  continued  experience 
a  proper  discrimination  in  granting  relief,  reduce  the  evils 
both  of  destitution  and  of  injudicious  charity  to  their  lowest 
practicable  limits,  and  endeavor  to  assist  the  poor  to  the  oppor- 
tunities and  habits  of  self-reliance.  The  individual  history 
of  these  excellent  institutions  does  not  lie  within  the  province 
of  this  report. 

In  regard  to  the  number  of  children  between  five  and  fifteen 
who  do  not  attend  any  school  in  the  course  of  the  year,  the 
most  vague  estimates  have  been  made,  ranging  from  20,000 
to  60,000.  No  thorough  school  census  of  the  city  has  ever  yet 
been  taken ;  the  nearest  approach  to  it  being  that  already  re- 
ferred to  in  1829,  and  the  more  full  one  embodied  in  the  sta- 
tistical tables  of  this  report. 

There  is  great  difficulty  in  making  any  correct  estimate 
of  the  number  of  children  in  our  city  who  never  attend  any 
school.  It  has  been  set  as  high  as  fifty  or  even  sixty  thou- 
sand. That,  any  such  estimate  is  merely  an  extravagant 
guess,  will  be  apparent  from  a  few  considerations.  The 
present  total  population  is  probably  not  far  from  one  million. 
The  many  lines  of  travel  by  boat  and  rail  radiating  from  the 
city  as  a  centre  have  removed  from  us  to  suburban  homes  a 


THE  VAGRANT  QUESTION.  129 

large  proportion  of  a  class  of  families  which  furnish  the  most 
regular  attendants  upon  schools  both  public  and  private.  In 
consequence  of  this,  there  is  an  increased  proportion  of  poor 
families  in  every  grade  of  poverty  whose  children's  services 
are  indispensable  to  their  parents,  either  from  the  wages  di- 
rectly earned,  or  by  their  staying  at  home  in  charge  of  those 
yet  younger  while  both  parents  are  away  at  employment. 
This  causes  a  very  irregular  attendance.  The  wide  prevalence 
of  this  state  of  things  is  in  part  indicated  by  the  fact  as  shown 
by  the  special  census  after  making  all  allowances  that  there  are 
15,000  less  girls  who  can  attend  school  during  the  year  than 
there  are  boys.  Most  of  these  have  been  several  years  at 
school,  though  more  or  less  irregularly,  but  were  withdrawn, 
as  the  school  registers  show,  at  as  early  an  age  as  ten  or 
eleven  years,  or  even  younger.  They  can  not,  in  any  just 
estimate,  be  classed  as  vagrants.  So  great  is  the  demand  for 
the  services  of  children,  both  boys  and  girls,  that  only  29  per 
cent,  of  school  children,  regular  and  irregular,  are-  twelve 
years  of  age  or  over. 

The  numerous  parochial  schools  include  great  numbers 
of  the  same  class,  those  supported  by  the  Catholic  Church 
alone  reporting  their  whole  number  taught  during  the  year 
at  over  sixteen  thousand.  A  large  part  of  the  newspaper  boys 
and  bootblacks  attend  school  during  a  part  of  the  day,  and 
follow  their  out-door  occupation  before  and  after  school-hours. 
Of  the  rest,  most  have  reached  or  are  beyond  the  years  at 
which  the  greater  number  of  pupils  leave  school  permanently. 
Very  many  of  these  attend  evening  school.  As  already 
stated,  our  total  population  is  not  far  from  a  million.  The 
proportion  of  clerks  and  other  resident  adults  from  country 
districts  is  very  large,  and  greatly  reduces  the  proportionate 
number  of  school  children.  The  whole  number  reported  as 
taught  in  all  the  various  grades  of  public  and  private  schools 
is  about  270,000.  Deducting  from  this  25,000  for  adults  in 
the  various  advanced  institutions  and  in  the  evening  schools, 
and  27,000  attending  private  schools,  besides  the  large  num- 
ber taught  at  home,  and  making  every  allowance  for  pupils 

I 


130  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

counted  twice  by  reason  of  readmission  or  removal  of  res- 
idence, and  for  those  who  attend  first  the  public  and  then  the 
parochial  schools,  it  will  be  apparent  that  of  unemployed  chil- 
dren of  school  age  who  attend  school  during  no  part  of  the 
year,  the  number,  though  far  too  great,  must  be  much  less 
than  is  usually  estimated,  probably  not  exceeding  ten  or  fif- 
teen thousand,  if  indeed  it  is  so  many.  For  a  more  exact  es- 
timate, we  need  yet  to  know  the  actual  population  of  the  city, 
the  real  number  within  the  school  age,  and  the  number  of  re- 
admissions  annually  made  in  all  schools,  private,  public,  and 
parochial. 

To  this  end  it  is  highly  desirable  that  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation should  cause  a  special  census  of  the  city  to  be  taken,  to 
ascertain  with  the  utmost  possible  accuracy  all  the  necessary 
data — not  only  the  actual  numbers  of  such  children,  but  the 
special  condition  of  each  locality  in  all  important  details. 
Such  a  measure  will  furnish  the  essential  basis  for  a  systematic 
and  intelligent  practical  treatment  of  the  evil.  The  necessary 
expense  of  such  census  would  be  well  repaid  in  the  beneficial 
results  sure  to  follow. 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF   SCHOOLS.  131 


XVI. 

ORGANIZATION  AND  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS. 

Number  and  Classification  of  Schools. — Primary  Schools. — Grammar  Schools. 
—  Evening  Schools.— Normal  Schools. —  Colored  Schools. —  Condition 
and  Course  of  Study  of  each.  —  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. — 
Teachers. —  Their  Examination,  License,  Appointment,  Removal,  Sal- 
aries.—  General  Control  and  Supervision. —  Departments  of  the  Clerk 
and  Superintendent. 

THE  schools  under  the  full  control  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation and  the  local  boards  are  designated  as  Primary,  Gram- 
mar, Evening,  and  Normal  Schools.  Each  of  these  classes 
is  divided  into  schools  for  whites  and  schools  for  colored  pu- 
pils, the  latter  being  known  as  Colored  Schools.  The  insti- 
tution recently  known  as  the  Free  Academy,  which  was  un- 
der the  direct  and  sole  control  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
has  been  erected  into  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
with  all  the  ordinary  powers  and  privileges  of  such  institu- 
tions, the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education  being  ex  officio 
its  trustees.  It  is  therefore  a  separate  and  distinct  organi- 
zation, and  not  under  the  control  of  the  Board. 

Besides  these,  are  forty-one  schools,  under  a  variety  of 
benevolent  associations,  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  participating  in  the  apportionment 
of  school  moneys. 

The  corporate  schools  are  variously  distributed,  more  than 
half  of  them  being  Industrial  Schools,  under  the  control  of 
the  American  Female  Guardian  Society  and  the  Children's 
Aid  Society,  the  latter  organization  having  sixteen  schools. 

The  condition  of  the  different  classes  of  schools  will  be 
briefly  considered.  The  course  of  study  in  each  is  also  sub- 
mitted. 


132 


HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


The  following  list  exhibits  the  classification  and  whole 
number  of  schools : 


WlJITK. 

COI.ORKP. 

3 
-< 

Normal  Schools  

1 

1 

2 

Grammar  Schools  for  boys  only.  
Grammar  Schools  for  girls  only  

40 

42 

2 

>•> 

42 
44 

Grammar  Schools  for  mixed  . 

9 

9 

]1 

Primary  Schools  for  mixed  

87 

5 

92 

Evening  Schools  for  males  

13 

0 

13 

Evening  Schools  for  females 

11 

«0 

11 

Evening  Schools  for  mixed               

0 

3 

3 

Evening  High  School  

0 

1 

Corporate  Schools       . 

37 

4 

41 

Total  

241 

19 

260 

PRIMARY  SCHOOLS. 

The  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  has  provided  for  a 
thorough  supervision  of  the  various  schools  and  departments, 
by  assigning  to  two  of  his  assistants  the  special  charge  of  the 
Primary  Schools.  Every  effort  is  being  made,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  local  officers,  to  advance  these  schools  to 
their  highest  possible  efficiency.  The  most  improved  meth- 
ods of  instruction  are  introduced,  incompetent  or  unfaithful 
teachers  are  carefully  weeded  out,  and  the  sure  progress  of 
the  system  in  general  provided  for  in  the  better  training  of 
these  little  ones,  who  will  soon,  in  their  turn,  constitute  the 
more  advanced  departments. 

On  the  importance  of  this  class  of  schools  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  dwell.  Their  pupils  are  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  under  instruction.  The  large  foreign  element  in  our 
city,  and  its  peculiar  character  and  condition,  with  the  great 
number  of  those  who,  from  various  causes,  are  only  able  to 
keep  their  children  at  school  for  a  limited  period,  render  these 
Primaries,  in  some  respects,  the  most  valuable  and  essential 
part  of  our  whole  system.  A  large  part  of  the  pupils  are  not 
able  to  continue  their  attendance  through  the  Grammar  De- 


PRESENT  CONDITION   OF  SCHOOLS.  133 

partments.  Many  reach  only  the  higher  classes  in  these  in- 
troductory schools.  It  is  therefore  the  more  essential  that 
the  training  in  these  shall  be  of  the  highest  order  suitable  for 
their  grade,  and  that  the  course  of  study  be  arranged  so  as  to 
meet  as  fully  as  possible  the  necessities  of  the  case. 

The  efficiency  and  popularity  of  these  departments  are  un- 
mistakably manifested  in  their  universally  crowded  condition. 
From  every  part  of  our  city  the  cry  comes  to  us  for  more 
room.  Greatly  increased  accommodation  in  this  respect  is 
urgently  needed.  Many  of  these  schools  have  several  hun- 
dreds more  in  attendance  than  they  can  in  any  proper  sense 
accommodate.  Should  all  be  provided  with  room,  with  proper 
reference  to  the  laws  of  health  and  the  best  opportunities  for 
instruction,  should  the  space  allotted  to  each  pupil  be  equal 
to  that  which  is  given  in  some  other  cities,  it  is  evident  that 
we  should  have  many  more  school  edifices,  and  that  this 
would  only  supply  the  present  demand,  without  any  refer- 
ence to  the  increased  attendance  from  year  to  year. 

The  high  rents  and  the  great  number  of  tenement  houses, 
exert  a  marked  influence  upon  school  accommodation.  With 
the  advancing  rates,  a  greater  and  greater  number  of  families 
come  to  occupy  a  given  number  of  houses,  and  the  number 
of  children  attending  school  in  the  district  steadily  increases. 
The  character  of  their  homes  renders  it  all  the  more  essential 
that  the  school-room  should  present  the  opposite  condition  of 
things,  and  supply  the  maximum  of  light,  and  air,  and  room 
consistent  with  a  true  economy. 

When  this  crowded  state  of  these  departments  is  taken 
into  consideration,  the  excellent  condition  of  these  schools, 
as  regards  both  discipline  and  scholarship,  is  a  remarkable 
evidence  of  the  skill,  patience,  and  energy  of  the  teachers, 
and  of  the  efficiency  of  the  general  management  which  has 
made  these  traits  the  rule  and  not  the  exception.  Never,  in 
their  entire  history,  have  they  been  in  so  decided  a  condition 
of  usefulness ;  never  have  the  results  of  the  instruction  given 
been  of  so  high  an  order;  yet,  with  proper  accommodation, 
even  these  results  must  be  exceeded. 


134  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

The  following  is  the 

COURSE    OF    STUDIES    IN   PRIMARY   SCHOOLS  : 

FIFTH  GRADE. — ALPHABET  CLASS. — Reading — Alphabet  and  familiar  words 
from  blackboard  or  chart;  exercises  in  enunciating  simple  elementary  sounds 
of  letters. 

Numeral  Frame — Counting  and  adding  on  numeral  frame  by  ones  and  by 
twos. 

Arabic  Figures — Reading  at  sight  any  number  from  1  to  99. 

Object  Lessons — Teaching  the  children,  by  means  of  common  objects,  to 
observe  simple  forms,  colors,  positions,  and  parts  of  objects,  of  the  human 
body,  and  of  familiar  animals  ;  each  lesson  to  be  conducted  with  a  view  to  cul- 
tivate habits  of  attention  and  observation. 

PRIMER  CLASS. — Reading  and  Spelling  from  charts,  blackboard,  and  primer, 
with  illustrations  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  used  ;  exercises  in  enumerating 
elementary  sounds  of  letters. 

Numeral  Frame — Adding  on  numeral  frame  by  twos,  threes,  fours,  and 
fives ;  also  taking  away  ones,  twos,  and  threes,  from  greater  numbers. 

Arabic  Figures — Reading  at  sight  numbers  through  three  figures  (999),  and 
writing  numbers  on  slates  as  far  as  100. 

Roman  Numbers — I,  V,  and  X,  with  their  combinations. 

Object  Lessons — The  subjects  of  the  alphabet  class  continued,  with  new  ob- 
jects and  illustrations. 

Tables — Adding  with  and  without  the  numeral  frame,  by  fours,  fives,  sixes, 
sevens,  eights,  nines,  and  tens ;  also  taking  threes,  fours,  and  fives  from  great- 
er numbers. 

Mental  Arithmetic. — Simple  questions  in  addition,  chiefly  with  concrete 
numbers. 

Object  Lessons — On  form,  color,  place,  size,  and  parts  of  objects,  for  leading 
the  pupils  to  make  observations  on  common  things  not  in  the  school-room. 
Let  the  teacher  give  simple  descriptions  of  familiar  objects,  and  the  pupils  give 
their  names  from  the  descriptions. 

Lessons  in  Morals  and  Manners — Continued  by  means  of  school  incidents, 
reading  lessons,  etc. 

THIRD  GRADE. — Reading — In  the  last  half  of  a  First,  or  the  first  half  of  a 
Second  Reader. 

Spelling — With  simple  definitions ;  also  spelling  by  the  elementary  sounds, 
as  far  as  necessary,  to  correct  faults  in  pronunciation. 

Punctuation — With  the  uses  of  the  common  marks  in  the  sentences  read. 

Roman  Numbers — Through  C,  D,  and  M. 

Written  Arithmetic— Numeration  through  100,000,000;  additions  through 
examples  of  six  or  seven  short  columns. 

Mental  Arithmetic — Simple  questions  in  addition  and  subtraction. 

Multiplication  Table — Through  6  times  12. 

Object  Lessons — Continued  on  form,  color,  place,  size,  and  human  body, 
with  lessons  on  animals,  plants,  common  minerals,  and  qualities  and  uses  of 


PRESENT  CONDITION   OF  SCHOOLS.  135 

objects,  directing  the  children's  attention  to  such  qualities  only  as  may  be 
readily  perceived.  Place  forms,  familiar  objects,  and  pictures,  before  the  pu- 
pils, and  request  them  to  give  simple  descriptions. 

Lessons  in  Morals  and  Manners. — Continued. 

SECOND  GRADE. — Reading — In  a  Second  Reader. 

Spelling  and  Definitions — The  meaning  of  words  illustrated  by  their  use  in 
short  oral  sentences ;  also  exercises  in  elementary  sounds,  continued  as  above. 

Punctuation — Continued  with  applications. 

Roman  Numbers — Reviewed. 

Written  Arithmetic— Through  subtraction,  and  in  multiplication  by  one 
figure. 

Mental  Arithmetic — In  subtraction  and  multiplication. 

Multiplication  Table— Through  12  times  12. 

Drawing  and  Writing  on  Slates — From  copies  on  blackboard  or  charts. 

Object  Lessons — Extend  the  subjects  of  the  preceding  grade. 

Lessons  in  Morals  and  Manners — Continued. 

FIRST  GRADE. — Reading — Lessons  of  the  grade  of  those  in  the  last  half  of 
Second  Reader. 

Spelling  and  Definitions — The  pupils  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  words  by 
using  them  in  short  sentences,  oral  or  written. 

Written  Arithmetic — Through  multiplication  and  division  by  two  figures, 
with  simple  practical  applications. 

Mental  Arithmetic — In  multiplication  and  division. 

Tables— Division,  time,  weights,  measures,  and  Federal  money,  taught  by  il- 
lustrations as  far  as  practicable. 

Geography — From  outline  maps — the  .hemispheres,  and  North  and  South 
America ;  also  the  definition  and  description  of  continents,  mountains,  islands, 
J  bays,  rivers,  etc. 

Writing  and  Drawing  on  Slates — From  copies,  also  writing  from  dictation 
words  and  short  sentences. 

Object  Lessons — Select  objects  that  require  descriptions  which  will  embrace 
form,  color,  size,  parts,  uses,  materials,  etc.  Extend  place  so  as  to  include 
the  chief  objects  in  the  local  geography  of  the  city  and  the  prominent  locations 
in  this  vicinity ;  adding  descriptions  necessary  to  prepare  the  pupil  for  an  in- 
telligent use  of  text-books  on  geography. 

Lessons  in  Morals  and  Manners — Continued. 

Vocal  Music — Practiced  throughout  the  school. 

Home  Lessons— No  lessons  shall  be  given  to  be  studied  after  school-hours, 
nor  shall  any  text-book  be  taken  from  the  schools  except  by  pupils  in  the  two 
higher  classes. 

GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS. 

A  corresponding  arrangement  is  made  in  the  case  of  the 
Grammar  Departments.  Two  of  the  assistant  superintend- 
ents are  especially  assigned  to  this  class  of  schools,  thus  in- 


136  HISTOKY   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION, 

suring,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Primary  Departmerjts,  a  minute- 
ness of  supervision  and  a  consequent  thoroughness  and  ef- 
ficiency that,  in  the  result,  may  safely  challenge  a  parallel  in 
any  school  system  in  the  world. 

Lf  The  course  of  study  for  Grammar  Schools  presents  six  reg- 
ular grades  and  several  supplementary.  These  last  are  in- 
tended to  meet  the  wants  of  a  large  number  of  pupils  whose 
parents  desire  to  have  them  instructed  in  certain  subjects  be- 
yond the  ordinary  Grammar  School  Course.  A  glance  at 
the  list  will  show  the  high  character  of  the  instruction  de- 
manded. Many  of  these  pupils  remain  with  the  design  of 
becoming  teachers,  and  the  largest  part  of  the  appointments 
made  by  the  various  local  boards  are  of  graduates  from  these 
supplementary  classes. 

In  all  the  Grammar  School  grades  much  attention  is  given 
to  arithmetic,  both  for  its  directly  utilitarian  and  for  its  dis- 
ciplinary character.  While  securing  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  business  arithmetic,  beginning,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
following  course  of  study,  at  an  elementary  stage,  at  every 
step  of  the  process  the  subject  is  made  the  means  of  disciplin- 
ing the  reasoning  powers — of  doing  for  the  lower  part  of  the 
course  of  study  that  which  geometry  does  for  the  higher.  0 

Mere  rules  are  never  relied  upon,  are  not  learned  till  a 
pupil  has  been  taught  to  give  clearly,  and  in  his  own  lan- 
guage, a  connected  statement  of  the  course  of  reasoning  in- 
volved in  the  solution  of  the  problem.  Servile  dependence 
upon  a  text-book  is  never  allowed.  The  teacher  is  required 
to  teach  the  subject,  and  not  the  book,  which,  when  used  at 
all,  is  to  be  only  an  accessory.1  It  is  this  vigorous  process 

1  The  following  extract  from  a  recent  special  report  upon  the  schools  of  the 
city  of  New  York  very  clearly  indicates  the  plan  pursued,  and  its  importance 
as  an  element  in  the  system. 

"But  the  most  important  feature  in  the  New  York  Schools  is  that  the 
course  of  instruction  is  indicated  by  the  sufy'ect  of  study,  and  not  by  text-books. 
There  is  no  uniformity  of  text-books.  The  local  committee,  the  trustees  in 
each  ward,  order  the  use  of  such  as  they  may  select  from  the  list  permitted  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  they  are  sometimes  similar  and  sometimes  differ- 
ent in  different  schools.  But  the  Board  of  Education  determine  the  subjects 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  137 

of  training,  applied  not  only  to  arithmetic,  but,  with  the 
proper  modifications,  to  all  other  subjects  of  study  that,  stead- 
ily accumulating  its  results  as  the  successive  grades  are  reach- 
ed, and  fixing  the  proper  mental  habits,  is  the  chief  agent  in 
that  constant  advance  of  the  system  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  and  which  becomes  more  and  more  operative  as 
the  teachers  throughout  the  city  enter  into  its  spirit. 

Much  attention  is  given  to  geography,  as  being  important 
in  a  commercial  city,  as  an  assistant  to  a  proper  knowledge 
of  history,  as  indispensable  in  preparing  for  that  great  teacher 
of  the  citizen,  the  daily  newspaper,  and  as  a  means  of  disci- 
plining the  mind  while  increasing  the  general  intelligence, 
and  developing  the  ability  of  the  pupil  to  give  a  clear,  con- 
nected, oral  statement.  As  will  be  seen,  the  other  subjects 
receive  due  share  of  attention. 

COURSE  OF  INSTRUCTION  IN  GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS. 
SIXTH  GRADE. — Reading,  of  the  grade  of  a  Third  Reader,  with  a  review  of 
punctuation  and  Roman  numbers,  and  exercises  on  the  subject-matter  of  the 
lessons;  spelling  and  definitions,  from  the  reading  lessons,  with  exercises  on 

that  shall  be  pursued  by  the  different  grades,  and  these  are  uniform  in  all  the 
grades,  and  in  all  the  schools  ;  and  as  the  programme  of  instruction  and  study 
is  thus  indicated  by  subjects,  the  examination  is  by  subjects,  *and  not  by  text- 
books, and  is  conducted  by  experts — by  the  Superintendent  and  his  assistants 
—that  iSj  by  persons  who  are  masters  of  the.  subject,  and  care  nothing  about 
particular  text-books.  *  *  *  *  The  New  York  teacher,  on  the  other  hand, 
knowing  that  his  pupils  are  to  be  examined  not  by  or  in  any  particular  text- 
book which  he  uses,  but  in  the  general  subject  of  that  text-book,  and  that  they 
will  be  expected  to  know  all  about  it  up  to  the  point  which  the  pupils  of  that 
grade  should  reach  at  the  time  of  the  examination,  has  no  inducement  to  con- 
line  himself  too  closely  to  the  text-book,  or  to  make  its  particular  forms  the 
mode  and  limit  of  his  instruction.  On  the  contrary,  the  text-book  becomes 
only  a  help,  hardly  a  guide,  and  nothing  of  a  restraint  or  boundary ;  but  through 
that,  and  a  large  amount  of  oral  instruction  and" conversation,  the  teachers 
aim  to  give  the  pupils  a  broad,  general  comprehension  of  the  subject,  so  that 
they  may  understand  and  be  able  to  answer  questions  on  that  subject  in  what- 
ever form  they  are  put.  *  *  *  *  The  two  features  which  have  just  been  consid- 
ered— the  programme  of  instruction  indicated  by  subjects,  and  not  by  text-books, 
and  the  consequent  examination  by  the  Superintendent  in  subjects,  and  not  in 
text-books,  seem  to  be  giving  to  the  New  York  Schools  a  remarkable  degree 
of  uniformity,  and  a  steady  progress  in  each  school." — Boston  Report,  1866. 


138  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

the  formation,  spelling,  and  definition  of  compound  and  derivative  words;  the 
meaning  of  words  also  to  be  illustrated  by  requiring  the  pupils  to  use  them  in 
sentences ;  written  arithmetic,  through  the  simple  rules  and  Federal  money, 
with  practical  applications ;  mental  arithmetic,  as  far  as  in  written  arithmetic, 
to  include  exercises  in  the  analysis  of  operations  and  examples,  and  in  rapid 
calculation  without  analysis;  tables  of  weights,  measures,  etc.,  reviewed,  with 
practical  illustrations ;  geography,  primary  geography  reviewed,  and  outlines 
of  North  America,  including  the  United  States,  with  definitions,  and  illustra- 
tions by  means  of  the  globe,  of  the  form,  magnitude,  and  motions  of  the  earth, 
latitude  and  longitude,  etc. 

FIFTH  GRADE. — Reading,  of  the  grade  of  a  Third  Reader  (latter  half ),  with 
exercises  as  in  the  Sixth  Grade ;  spelling  and  definitions,  from  the  reading  les- 
sons, with  the  exercises  of  the  preceding  grade,  continued  ;  written  arithmetic, 
through  common  fractions,  with  their  simple  practical  applications ;  mental 
arithmetic,  to  the  same  extent  as  in  written  arithmetic,  with  exercises  in  anal- 
ysis  and  calculation ;  geography — to  include  a  full  knowledge  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  other  divisions  of  North  America,  including  descriptive  geog- 
raphy. 

FOURTH  GRADE. — Reading,  of  the  grade  of  a  Fourth  Reader,  with  exercises 
as  in  the  preceding  grades  ;  spelling  and  definitions,  as  in  the  preceding  grades  ; 
with  instruction  in  the  meaning  of  the  prefixes  of  derivative  words ;  written 
arithmetic,  through  decimal  fractions,  and  their  practical  applications,  with  a 
review  of  common  fractions ;  mental  arithmetic — analysis  of  common  and  dec- 
imal fractions,  with  exercises  in  calculation ;  geography,  local  and  descrip- 
tive, through  South  America,  with  a  review  of  North  America  ;  English  gram- 
mar commenced — the  analysis  and  parsing  of  sentences,  containing  principal 
parts  and  simple  word  adjuncts,  with  definitions  of  the  terms  used. 

THIRD  GRADE.— Reading,  of  the  grade  of  a  Fourth  Reader  (latter  half), 
with  particular  attention  to  emphasis,  intonations,  and  variety  of  expression, 
and  with  exercises  on  the  subject-matter  continued ;  spelling  and  definitions 
from  the  reading  lessons,  with  exercises  in  writing  miscellaneous  words  from 
dictation,  and  instruction  in  the  prefixes  and  suffixes  of  derivatives  ;  written 
arithmetic,  through  the  compound  rules  and  reduction,  with  denominate  frac- 
tions, both  common  and  decimal ;  mental  arithmetic — a  review  of  preceding 
grades,  with  exercises  in  calculation  and  analysis  applied  to  compound  num- 
bers and  denominate  fractions  ;  geography,  both  local  and  descriptive,  through 
Europe  and  its  divisions ;  English  grammar,  the  analysis  and  parsing  of  sen- 
tences, with  simple  phrase  or  clause  adjuncts ;  history  of  the  United  States- 
early  discoveries,  and  the  cnitlines  of  colonial  history. 

SECOND  GRADE. — Reading,  of  the  grade  of  a  Fifth  Reader,  with  exercises 
as  in  the  Third  Grade;  spelling  from  the  reading  lessons,  with  exercises  in 
writing  miscellaneous  words,  and  in  the  analysis  and  construction  of  words 
according  to  the  rules  for  spelling ;  definitions,  from  the  reading  lessons, 
with  instructions  in  etymology,  including  the  prefixes  and  suffixes,  and  easy 
Latin  roots ;  written  and  mental  arithmetic,  through  percentage,  and  its  ap- 
plication to  commission,  insurance,  stocks,  and  interest,  both  simple  and  com- 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  139 

pound  ;  geography,  both  local  and  descriptive,  through  Asia,  Africa,  and  Oce- 
anica;  English  grammar — the  analysis  and  parsing  of  easy  complex  and  com- 
pound sentences,  with  exercises  in  the  correction  of  false  syntax  and  in  com- 
position ;  history  of  the  United  States  through  the  War  of  the  Revolution ; 
algebra  (for  boys  only),  through  fractions. 

FIRST  GRADE. — Heading,  spelling,  and  definitions,  as  in  the  Second  Grade; 
etymology  continued,  with  the  analysis  of  words  and  their  formation  from 
given  roots ;  written  and  mental  arithmetic,  for  girls,  through  the  problems  of 
interest,  discount,  profit  and  loss,  and  proportion  ;  for  boys,  through  evolution ; 
exercises  as  in  preceding  grades ;  geography,  local  and  descriptive,  reviewed, 
with  outlines  of  physical  geography,  and  exercises  in  map  drawing;  English 
grammar — the  analysis  and  parsing  of  sentences  of  ordinary  construction,  with 
the  correction  of  false  syntax,  and  exercises  in  composition ;  history  of  the 
United  States — outlines  completed  and  reviewed;  astronomy — the  solar  sys- 
tem, with  a  description  of  the  sun  and  planets,  and  definition  of  terms ;  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  book-keeping  (for  boys  exclusively)  ;  algebra  / 
(for  boys),  through  simple  equations. 

C  Penmanship  shall  be  taught  in  each  grade  of  the  above  course.  Instruction 
in  sewing  may  be  given  in  the  Female  Schools. 

Every  pupil  passing  a  thorough  examination  in  the  studies  prescribed  for 
the  Grammar  School  Course  shall  receive  a  certificate  of  graduation  for  that 
course  which  shall  entitle  to  promotion  to  the  Supplementary  Course. 

SUPPLEMENTARY    COURSE     OF     STUDIES     FOR   FEMALE    GRAMMAR 

SCHOOLS. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  course  of  studies  above  prescribed,  the  following 
Supplementary  Course  may  be  pursued  in  the  Female  Grammar  Schools: 

SECOND  GRADE. — For  a  period  not  less  than  one  year ;  arithmetic  and  En- 
glish grammar  reviewed ;  physiology ;  astronomy ;  algebra,  through  simple 
equations ;  natural  philosophy,  including  mechanics,  hydrostatics,  and  pneu- 
matics ;  ancient  history ;  geometry,  through  the  first  book  of  Legendre,  or  an 
equivalent ;  composition  ;  elocution. 

FIRST  GRADE. — For  a  period  not  less  than  one  year ;  review  of  English 
grammar  and  arithmetic ;  algebra,  through  quadratic  equations ;  higher  as- 
tronomy ;  natural  philosophy,  completed ;  rhetoric  and  composition  ;  modern 
history ;  geometry,  through  the  fourth  book  of  Legendre,  or  an  equivalent ; 
elocution. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  COURSE  FOR  MALE  GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS. 

The  following  course  of  studies  may  be  pursued  in  the  Male  Grammar 
Schools,  to  occupy  one  year  or  more,  as  may  be  necessary ;  arithmetic  and  En- 
glish grammar,  continued  and  reviewed ;  algebra,  through  quadratic  equa- 
tions ;  geometry,  first  four  books  of  Legendre,  or  an  equivalent ;  mensura-  ^ 

elements  of  natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  and  astronomy,  science  of 
government,  including  a  knowledge  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, 


HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

tin  J  the  general  provisions  of  the  State  Constitutions,  with  a  brief  outline  of 
municipal  and  international  law ;  book-keeping ;  mechanical  and  architectural 
drawing ;  declamation  and  composition. 

STUDENTS    FOR   SUPPLEMENTARY    COURSE,  HOW    SELECTED. 

The  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  or  one  of  the  assistant  superintendents, 
shall  select  at  every  examination  of  a  Grammar  School  such  of  the  pupils  as 
may  be  found  qualified  to  pursue  the  Supplementary  Course,  and  additional 
pupils,  who  have  not  attended  any  Grammar  School  during  the  year  next  pre- 
vious, may  also  be  admitted  to  the  Supplementary  Course  by  the  principal  of 
the  school ;  but  no  class  shall  be  formed  in  the  Supplementary  Course  with  less 
than  fifteen  pupils,  nor  shall  any  such  class  be  continued,  if  the  actual  average 
attendance  of  pupils  for  a  period  of  three  months  be  less  than  fifteen. 

MUSIC,  DRAWING,  LATIN,  GERMAN,  ETC. 

Exercises  in  vocal  music  shall  be  given  in  each  Primary  and  Grammar 
School,  and  instruction  in  musical  notation  and  reading  shall  be  given  to  the 
pupils  of  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Grades,  and  of  the  Supplementary  Course 
in  Grammar  Schools ;  drawing,  with  exercises  in  perspective,  and  the  delinea- 
tion of  objects,  shall  be  taught  in  the  same  grades.  The  Board  of  Trustees 
may  also  authorize  the  Latin  language  to  be  taught  in  any  Grammar  School 
in  the  ward  in  which  the  Supplementary  Course  is  pursued ;  but  the  same 
shall  be  taught  only  by  teachers  employed  in  the  schools  to  give  instruction  in 
other  branches  of  study.  The  French  or  German  language  may  be  pursued  in 
connection  with  the  studies  of  the  first  and  second  grades,  and  the  Supplement- 
ary Course  of  studies. 

A   WEEKLY  REVIEW  IN  EACH   CLASS. 

Once  in  each  week  there  shall  be  in  every  class  of  each  course  a  review  of 
the  studies  of  the  previous  week,  at  which  review  all  text-books  shall  be  laid 
aside  by  teachers  and  pupils.  ^ 

PUPILS  PASSING   EXAMINATION  IN   STUDIES    OF    SUPPLEMENTARY 
COURSE    ENTITLED  TO   GRADUATION. 

Every  pupil  passing  a  thorough  examination  in  the  studies  prescribed  for 
the  Supplementary  Course  shall  be  entitled  to  a  full  certificate  of  graduation. 

REGULATION    OF   STUDIES    OUT   OF   SCHOOL. 

No  lesson  shall  be  given  to  a  pupil  to  be  learned  out  of  school,  until  it  shall 
have  been  sufficiently  explained  and  illustrated  by  the  teacher  to  the  class ; 
nor  shall  the  lessons  assigned  for  such  preparation  be  such  as  to  acquire  a  pe- 
riod of  study  each  day,  in  the  case  of  a  child  of  average  capacity,  longer  than 
two  hours.  Exercises  in  giammatical  analysis  and  parsing,  and  written  and 
mental  arithmetic,  shall  not  be  assigned  for  home  study  except  to  pupils  in  the 
First  Grade  or  the  Supplementary  Course. 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  141 

LIMITATION    OF   STUDIES   TO   THE    PRESCRIBED   GRADE. 

The  studies  of  each  grade  shall  be  pursued  in  the  order  herein  prescribed, 
and  without  the  addition  of  any  study  or  studies  belonging  to  a  higher  grade 
or  to  the  Supplementary  Course. 

REVIEW   TO   PRECEDE    EXAMINATION   FOR   PROMOTION. 

Every  examination  for  promotion  to  a  higher  grade,  shall  be  preceded  by  a 
thorough  review  of  all  the  studies  pursued  in  the  previous  one. 

CITY   SUPERINTENDENT  TO   REPORT   VIOLATION    OF   COURSE    OF 

STUDIES. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  City  Superintendent  and  his  assistants,  at  each 
visitation  of  a  school  or  department,  to  inquire  specially  whether  the  provisions 
relating  to  the  course  of  study  have  been  strictly  followed  ;  and  the  City  Su- 
perintendent shall,  without  delay,  report  the  case  of  any  violation  of  the  same 
to  the  Board,  stating  the  name  of  the  principal  of  the  school  and  the  teacher 
of  the  class  concerned  in  such  violation. 


EVENING  SCHOOLS. 

The  Evening  School  system  constitutes  an  important  part 
of  the  educational  institutions  of  the  city.  The  tendency  in 
our  day  to  diminish  the  number  of  hours  given  to  physical 
labor  is  giving  time  and  opportunity  for  mental  improvement 
to  thousands  who  have  hitherto  been  cut  off  from  such  ad- 
vantages. 

The  advanced  age  of  the  pupils,  as  compared  with  those 
of  the  Day  Schools,  brings  with  it  greater  maturity  of  judg- 
ment, and  a  more  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  opportuni- 
ties which  the  school  offers.  After  making  all  allowances  for 
the  exhausting  effects  of  previous  physical  labor  upon  the 
nervous  system,  there  still  remains  a  capacity  for  improve- 
ment which,  whenever  the  will  of  the  pupil  is  fully  aroused, 
leads,  under  judicious  training,  to  the  most  valuable  results. 

For  the  present  season,  these  schools  are  twenty -five  in  num- 
ber— thirteen  for  males  and  twelve  for  females.  Each  school 
is  held  in  a  separate  building.  The  term  commences  on  the 
first  Monday  in  October,  and,  exclusive  of  the  usual  holiday 
vacation,  continues  for  eighteen  weeks.  The  sessions  are  held 
five  evenings  in  each  week,  from  7  to  9J  P.M.  for  the  males, 


142  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

and  from  6J  to  9  P.M.  for  the  females.  No  pupils  are  admit- 
ted excepting  those  whose  ages  or  avocations  are  such  as  to 
prevent  their  attending  the  Day  Schools.  At  the  application 
for  admission,  they  must  be  accompanied  by  some  responsible 
person,  or  present  to  the  principal  some  satisfactory  evidence 
as  to  their  identity  and  respectability.  No  male  pupil  is  ad- 
mitted who  has  not  reached  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  no 
female  who  has  not  attained  the  age  of  twelve.  This  restric- 
tion as  to  age  has  been  found  necessary  in  certain  cases,  in 
order  to  restrain  parents  from  taking  their  children  from  the 
Day  School  at  too  early  an  age  for  physical  labor,  and  rely- 
ing upon  the  Evening  School  as  a  means  p.f  their  obtaining  the 
rudiments  of  an  education. 

Eeading,  spelling,  definitions,  and  penmanship  are  taught 
in  all  the  classes.  When  the  other  attainments  will  justify  it, 
geography  is  taught  by  means  of  the  outline  map  and  oral  in- 
struction. No  female  teacher  can  be  employed  in  any  Even- 
ing School  for  males  who  has  not  had  at  least  two  years  ex- 
perience as  a  teacher  in  a  male  Grammar  School,  and  no 
teacher  can  hold  a  position  of  any  grade  in  any  Evening 
School  who  has  not  been  specially  licensed  for  such  position 
by  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

Corporal  punishment  is  not  allowed,  the  penalty  for  per- 
sistent disobedience  or  immoral  conduct  being  dismission,  and 
pupils  thus  dismissed  can  not  be  admitted  to  any  Evening- 
School  in  the  city  without  the  consent  of  the  City  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools,  into  whose  hands  the  general  supervision 
is  committed,  with  essentially  the  same  powers  and  duties  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Day  Schools. . 

The  principals  of  these  schools  are  required  to  report  ev- 
ery two  weeks  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  the  average  attend- 
ance of  pupils  and  the  number  of  teachers  employed.  In  case 
the  average  per  teacher  falls  below  thirty,  the  number  of 
teachers  is  reduced,  while,  if  increased  attendance  will  warrant 
it,  additional  teachers  are  employed. 

Adult  classes  are  an  interesting  feature  in  these  Evening 
Schools.  Every  effort  is  made  to  attract  that  large  class  of 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  143 

persons  already  spoken  of  whose  hours  of  labor  are  such  as 
to  give  time  and  opportunity  to  devote  a  part  of  their  even- 
ings to  improving  their  education.  In  several  localities,  large 
numbers  of  foreigners  attend  for  the  purpose  of  learning  the 
language.  In  one  male  school  on  the  east  side  of  the  city,  no 
less  than  four  hundred  Germans  attended  with  this  object,  and 
were  taught  by  three  competent  teachers. 

EVENING  HIGH  SCHOOL  FOR  MALES. 
The  sessions  of  the  school  begin  on  the  first  Monday  in 
October,  and  are  held  for  a  term  of  twenty-four  weeks,  exclu- 
sive of  the  holiday  vacation.  The  restrictions  in  regard  to 
admission  are  similar  to  those  of  the  other  Evening  Schools, 
excepting  in  the  higher  grades  of  attainment  necessary.  Pu- 
pils are  required  to  pass  a  good  examination  in  reading,  spell- 
ing, elementary  geography,  and  grammar,  and  in  arithmetic, 
through  common  and  decimal  fractions,  and  their  applications 
to  denominate  numbers. 

COURSE    OF   STUDY. 

I  The  course  of  study  embraces  the  following  ^branches :  English  grammar 
ana  composition  ;  reading  and  declamation ;  penmanship,  book-keeping,  and 
arithmetic ;  algebra,  geometry,  and  trigonometry ;  natural  philosophy,  chemis- 
try, and  astronomy ;  American  history  and  political  science,  the  latter  to  in- 
clude a  knowledge  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  State  Consti- 
tution, with  the  outlines  of  municipal  and  international  law ;  architectural  and 
mechanical  drawing ;  practical  mechanics  ;  navigation  ;  and  the  French,  Span- 
ish, or  German  languages  may  also  be  taught,  provided  the  number  applying 
for  instruction  in  the  same  or  any  one  of  them  shall  be  at  least  fifteen.  No 
class  thus  formed  shall  be  continued  in  case  the  average  attendance  for  the 
period  of  one  month  shall  be  less  than  ten. 

Pupils  may  be  admitted  to  receive  instruction  in  any  part  of  the  course,  or 
in  any  single  branch  of  study  under  the  direction  of  the  principal,  and  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  latter  to  arrange  an  order  of  exercises  for  each  evening, 
and  give  public  notice  of  the  same. 

In  addition  to  the  principal,  there  shall  be  a  teacher  of  English  grammar, 
reading,  and  declamation ;  a  teacher  of  penmanship,  arithmetic,  and  book- 
keeping ;  a  teacher  of  algebra,  geometry,  and  trigonometry ;  a  teacher  of  nat- 
ural philosophy,  chemistry,  and  astronomy ;  and  a  teacher  of  history  and  po- 
litical science,  with  such*  other  assistants  and  special  teachers  as  may  be  re- 
quired. ^ 


144  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

The  classes  and  special  subjects  are  taught  by  a  full  corps 
of  teachers  of  high  ability,  among  them  several  experienced 
principals  of  Grammar  Schools,  under  a  competent  general 


management. 


NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 

There  are  two  Normal  Schools,  one  for  white  and  the 
other  for  colored  teachers.  The  sessions  are  held  on  the  Sat- 
urday of  each  week,  from  9  A.M.  to  1  P.M.  The  pupils 
are  themselves  teachers,  engaged  in  the  several  schools  during 
the  week,  or  graduates  from  the  supplementary  classes  of  the 
Grammar  Schools  who  desire  to  become  teachers. 

Every  teacher  employed  in  a  Primary  or  Grammar  School 
holds  the  Superintendent's  certificate  of  qualification  and  li- 
cense to  teach,  which  is  either  of  the  first,  second,  or  the  third 
grade,  and  known  as  A,  B,  or  C.  Certificates  of  Grade  C  are 
no  longer  issued,  although  a  limited  number  of  the  Primary 
teachers  continue  to  hold  them.  Those  holding  the  certifi- 
cate of  Grade  A  are  excused  from  other  than  voluntary  at- 
tendance upon  the  Normal  Schools  ;  those  holding  Grade  B 
are  excused  if  teaching  in  the  Primary  Schools ;  all  others, 
unless  excused  by  the  Committee  on  Normal  Schools,  are  re- 
quired to  attend  until  they  obtain  at  the  Normal  School  ex- 
aminations a  higher  grade  certificate.  The  teachers  thus  at- 
tending as  pupils  are  formed  into  classes  having  a  course  of 
study  in  many  respects  similar  to  that  of  the  supplementary 
classes  of  the  Grammar  Schools.  Their  number  is  steadily 
diminishing,  few  appointments  being  now  made  unless  with 
certificate  of  Grade  A. 

But  by  far  the  largest  and  most  interesting  portion  of  the 
actual  attendance  is  of  a  voluntary  nature,  and  the  number 
is  steadily  increasing.  These  pupils  are  formed  into  what 
are  known  as  the  post-graduate  classes;  they  already  hold 
the  highest  certificate  required,  yet  attend  the  school  for 
mutual  benefit  and  instruction.  It  is  therefore  a  perpetual 
"  teachers'  institute  "  of  a  high  order.  Among  the  most  reg- 
ular attendants  are  many  of  our  experienced  and  successful 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS. 

principals  of  Primary  and  Grammar  Schools,  who  week  by 
week  set  the  noble  example  of  placing  themselves  as  learn- 
ers side  by  side  with  their  junior  assistants,  many  or  most  of 
whom  have  been,  their  own  pupils.  The  exercises  are  almost 
exclusively  normal  in  character,  and  have  special  reference 
in  the  several  post-graduate  classes,  to  the  wants  of  the 
teachers  of  the  Primary,  Grammar  School,  or  supplementary 
portions  of  the  general  course.  An  earnest  desire  is  mani- 
fested to' learn,  discuss,  and  adopt  the  best  methods  of  instruc- 
tion and  discipline,  and  to  assist  in  every  way  in  advancing 
the  general  character  of  the  system.  The  exercises  being  as 
far  as  possible  conversational,  or  made  the  subject  of  discus- 
sion, it  will  be  seen  that  the  amount,  variety,  and  character 
of  the  experience  thus  concentrated  and  contributed  must 
make  this  school  a  central  point  of  influence  of  our  entire 
system. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  all  this  is  voluntarily  done, 
at  the  cost  of  a  large  part  of  the  Saturday  holiday,  and  at 
the  close  of  a  week  of  severe  labor,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  such  a  spirit  manifested  by  those  holding  such  high' po- 
sitions is  one  of  the  strongest  assurances  that  can  be  given 
that  the  system  has  the  elements  of  a  true  and  healthful 
growth,  and  that  it  will  continue  to  hold  and  to  deserve  the 
confidence  of  the  community. 

Another  element  which  distinctly  marks  the  function  of 
this  interesting  school  is  the  fact  tfyat  its  classes  are  in  the 
charge  of  veteran  teachers,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  principals 
of  Grammar  Departments,  and  that  included  in  the  corps  are 
three  of  the  City  Superintendents,  one  of  whom  is  the  princi- 
pal of  both  the  Normal  Schools.  The  Saturday's  instruction 
is  thus  made  to  tell  with  the  utmost  directness  upon  both 
Primary  and  Grammar  Schools,  contributing  no  small  share 
to  the  excellence  of  the  general  result. 

COLORED  SCHOOLS. 

These  are  graded  in  the  same  manner  as  those  for  white 
children,  into  Primary,  Grammar,  and  Normal  Schools.  Aft- 

K 


14:6  HISTOKY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

er  being  the  charge  of  a  special  committee  of  the  Public 
School  Society,  they  passed  in  1853  to  the  care  of  the  school 
officers  of  the  several  wards  in  which  they  are  situated.  The 
change  was  not,  upon  the  whole,  beneficial.  While,  in  some 
cases,  they  received  proper  attention,  in  others,  frorn»obvious 
causes,  they  were  either  wholly  or  in  part  neglected. 

The  recent  act  has  placed  them  directly  in  charge  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  who  have  appointed  a  special  committee 
for  the  purpose,  and  systematic  efforts  are  being  made  to  ad- 
vance as  far  as  possible  the  general  condition  of  this  class  of 
schools.  Better  houses  are  in  process  of  erection.  Every  op- 
portunity and  convenience  is  afforded  that  is  given  any  other 
class  of  schools.  The  teachers  are  of  the  same  race  as  their 
pupils.  They  have  many  difficulties  to  contend  with,  chiefly 
those  arising  from  the  irregularity  in  the  attendance  of  their 
pupils.  The  pupils  themselves  are  gathered  from  wide  areas, 
some  of  them  coming  from  long  distances.  Yet  in  conse- 
quence of  the  new  and  encouraging  measures  adopted  by  the 
Board  and  its  committee,  an  improvement  has  begun  which, 
it  is  hoped,  will  continue  to  mark  their  future  history. 

COLLEGE  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 

This  institution  continues  to  hold  the  same  relation  to  the 
Common  Schools  of  the  city  as  under  its  former  title  and  or- 
ganization. Its  students  must  have  been  pupils  in  the  Public 
Schools,  the  conditions  of  admission  being  as  follows : 

CONDITIONS  OF  ADMISSION  OF  STUDENTS. 

No  student  shall  be  admitted  to  the  College  unless  at  the  commencement 
of  the  next  term  he  shall  be  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  have  attended  the  Com- 
mon Schools  for  twelve  months,  and  shall  have  passed  a  good  examination  in 
reading,  spelling^  writing,  English  grammar,  geography,  arithmetic,  elemen- 
tary book-keeping,  history  of  the  United  States,  and  algebra,  through  quadrat- 
ic equations. 

PRE-REQUISITES  TO  EXAMINATION  FOR  ADMISSION. 
No  candidate  shall  be  examined  for  admission  unless  he  shall  present  to  the 
President  of  the  College  a  certificate  in  the  form  prepared  by  the  Executive 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  147 

Committee,  signed  by  the  principal  of  the  school  or  schools  of  which  he  has 
been  a  member,  and  specifying  the  age  of  the  candidate,  the  Common  Schools 
of  this  city  which  he  has  attended,  the  length  of  time  in  each,  and  when.  If 
the  number  qualified  for  admission  shall  be  more  than  can  be  admitted,  the 
preference  shall  be  given  to  those  who  have  attended  the  Common  Schools  the 
greater  period. 

REQUISITES  OF  ADMISSION. 

At  either  of  the  regular  examinations  students  may  be  admitted  to  one  or 
all  the  classes,  to  pursue  the  studies  of  any  one  or  more  Departments,  provided 
they  shall  have  attended  the  common  schools  the  requisite  period,  shall  be  of 
the  proper  age,  shall  pass  the  proper  examination  in  the  requisites  for  admis- 
sion, and  an  examination  satisfactory  to  the  faculty,  in  the  previous  studies  of 
the  class  or  Departments  to  which  they  are  to  be  admitted. 

TIME  AND  MANNER  OF  EXAMINATION. 

The  examination  of  candidates  for  admission  shall  take  place  immediately 
after  the  general  examination  in  July,  and  at  such  other  time  or  times  as  shall 
be  fixed  by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  shall  continue  at  the  same  hours 
until  concluded.  No  person  shall  be  present  at  the  examination  except  the  in- 
structors of  the.  College  and  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  other  school 
officers.  Neither  the  names  of  the  candidates,  nor  the  schools  from  which 
they  come,  shall  be  made  known  to  the  instructors  conducting  the  examina- 
tions, but  each  candidate  shall  be  designated  during  the  examination  by  a 
number  given  him  on  a  card  by  the  President. 

RETURNS  OF  EXAMINATION  TO  BE  MADE  TO  FACULTY. 

The  instructors  conducting  the  examination  shall  make  full  returns  of  the 
same  on  a  scale  of  ten  to  the  faculty,  who,  from  such  returns,  shall  certify  the 
names  of  the  candidates  who  have  passed  the  requisite  good  examination,  and 
also  the  result  of  the  examination  of  each  candidate,  which  shall  in  all  cases 
be  recorded  in  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose.  The  examination  papers  of  each 
student  shall  be  preserved  and  filed. 

^   EXAMINATION  AND  LICENSING  OF  TEACHERS. 

For  the  examination  and  licensing  of  teachers,  the  follow- 
ing rules  and  regulations  have  been  adopted  by  the  City  Su- 
perintendent. 

Candidates  for  examination  must,  in  all  cases,  have  attain- 
ed the  age  of  seventeen  years,  and  must  have  made,  or  be 
about  to  make,  application  for  a  situation  actually  vacant,  or 
expected  soon  to  be  vacant.  The  fact  of  such  vacancy  must 


148  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

be  attested  by  a  certificate  from  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
ward,  or  the  commissioners  of  the  district  within  which  said 
vacancy  exists  or  is  expected  to  occur.  Satisfactory  evidence 
of  good  moral  character  will  also  be  uniformly  required ; 
and  in  the  case  of  pupils  of  any  of  the  Grammar  Schools,  the 
recommendation  of  the  principal,  and  his  or  her  certificate  of 
character  or  deportment. 

The  qualifications  for  the  several  grades  are  as  follows : 

GRADE  B.— [For  teachers  of  Primary  Schools.]  Reading,  spelling,  defini- 
tions, English  grammar,  geography,  mental  and  written  arithmetic,  through 
percentage  and  proportion,  penmanship,  and  outline  drawing.  Also  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  methods  of  teaching  proper  for  Primary  Schools,  including  object 
teaching  in  its  application  to  number,  form,  color,  size,  etc.,  as  well  as  lessons 
on  animals,  plants,  common  minerals,  and  the  qualities  and  uses  of  familiar 
objects. 

GRADE  B. — [For  teachers  of  Grammar  Schools  not  above  first  assistant.] 
Reading,  spelling,  definitions,  etymology,  English  grammar,  with  parsing  and 
analysis,  elementary  astronomy,  history  of  the  United  States,  geography,  mental 
and  written  arithmetic,  through  evolution,  penmanship,  algebra,  through  simple 
equations,  and  geometry,  through  the  first  book  of  Davis's  Legendre,  or  an 
equivalent.  ^ 

GRADE  A. — [For  Females.]  Same  as  above,  with  higher  astronomy,  arith- 
metic complete,  algebra,  through  equations;  second,  third,  and  fourth  books 
of  geometry,  with  the  applications  to  problems  and  mensuration  ;  ancient  and 
modern  history,  natural  philosophy,  physiology,  and  rhetoric. 

[For  Males.]  Geometry,  through  spherical ;  trigonometry;  and  outlines  of 
chemistry,  in  addition  to  the  preceding. 

A  certificate  for  a  limited  period  only  will  be  conferred, 
except  to  such  candidates  as  have  shown  by  actual  experi- 
ence in  the  schools  of  this  city  or  elsewhere  ability  to  impart 
instruction,  and  success  in  discipline. 

The  examinations  are  held  in  the  presence  of  the  inspect- 
ors designated  by  the  Board  of  Education  on  Friday  of  each 
week,  commencing  at  nine  o'clock  A.M.  Candidates  are  re- 
quested to  present  their  credentials  previous  to  the  day  of  ex- 
amination. No  candidate  after  rejection  will  be  re-examined 
until  after  the  expiration  of  three  months. 

In  the  case  of  limited  certificates,  they  are  usually  given 
for  six  months  or  a  year ;  and  if,  at  the  end  of  that  period, 
the  holder  has  given  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  proper  ability 


PRESENT  CONDITION   OF   SCHOOLS.  149 

to  teach  and  to  govern,  a  full  certificate  in  the  usual  form  is 
granted.  If  no  such  ability  has  been  manifested,  the  license 
expires  by  limitation,  and  is  not  renewed. 


APPOINTMENT  AND  KEMOVAL  OF  TEACHERS. 

It  is  provided  by  law  that 

The  schools  in  the  several  wards  shall  be  classified  as  Grammar,  Primary, 
and  Evening  schools,  and  teachers  for  the  said  schools  shall  be  appointed  as 
follows  :  Principals  and  vice-principals  by  the  Board  of  Education,  upon  the 
written  nomination  of  a  majority  of  the  trustees  of  the  ward,  stating  that  the 
nomination  was  agreed  to  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  at  which  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  in  office  were  present.  Other  teachers  shall  be 
appointed  by  a  majority  of  the  trustees  for  the  ward  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  Any  teacher  may  be  removed  by  the  Board  of  Education  upon 
the  recommendation  of  the  City  Superintendent,  or  of  a  majority  of  the  trustees 
for  the  ward,  or  a  majority  of  the  inspectors  for  the  district.  The  Board  of 
Trustees  for  the  ward,  by  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  trustees 
in  office,  may  also  remove  teachers  employed  therein  other  than  principals  and 
vice-principals,  provided  the  removal  is  approved  in  writing  by  a  majority  of 
the  inspectors  of  the  district,  and  provided  further,  that  any  teacher  so  re- 
moved shall  have  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Education,  under  such 
rules  as  it  may  prescribe ;  and  the  said  Board  shall  have  power,  after  hearing 
the  answers  of  the  trustees,  to  reinstate  the  teacher. 

These  regulations  are  the  more  important  in  that  it  has 
been  the  custom  in  the  city  of  New  York  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Free  School  Society  not  to  make  annual  appoint- 
ments of  teachers,  as  is  believed  to  be  the  general  practice 
elsewhere.  Once  appointed,  no  new  appointment  is  required 
for  the  same  position,  and  the  teacher  is  secure,  so  long  as  he 
or  she  faithfully  performs  the  duties  assigned. 

The  Board  by  regulation  also  provides 

That  no  teacher  shall  be  appointed  principal  or  vice-principal  of  a  Gram- 
mar School  except  of  Grade  A,  and  no  assistant  teacher  shall  be  employed 
therein  without  a  certificate  equal  to  Grade  B.  No  teacher  shall  be  appoint- 
ed principal  or  vice-principal  of  a  Primary  School  without  a  certificate  equal 
to  Grade  B, 

It  has  also  been  found  necessary  to  provide 

That  the  salary  of  any  principal  or  vice-principal  whom  this  Board,  after 
the  application  of  any  Board  of  Trustees,  shall  have  refused  to  remove  from 


150  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

his  or  her  position,  and  the  salary  of  any  teacher,  whose  appeal  to  this  Board 
from  the  action  of  a  Board  of  Trustees  in  removing  him  or  her  from  the  posi- 
tion he  or  she  held,  shall  have  been  sustained  ;  and  the  salary  of  any  teacher 
whose  removal,  by  request  of  a  Board  of  Trustees,  has  not  been  approved  by 
the  inspectors  of  a  school  district,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  not  be  reduced 
by  any  Board  of  Trustees  below  the  amount  he  or  she  received  at  the  time 
said  Board  took  action  to  effect  the  removal  of  such  principal,  vice-principal, 
or  teacher,  without  first  obtaining  the  approval  of  this  Board. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  every  care  is  taken  in  the  licens- 
ing of  teachers,  that,  when  necessary,  they  may  be  promptly 
removed,  and  that  competent  and  worthy  teachers  are  pro- 
tected from  all  hasty,  injudicious,  unjust,  and  oppressive  meas- 
ures, and  made  to  feel  that  faithful  performance  of  duty  will 
furnish  them  that  guaranty  which  justice  demands. 

No  principal  of  any  school  is  obliged  to  teach  a  particular 
class.  His  duties  are  chiefly  those  of  general  supervision  and 
superintendence.  By  frequent  visits  to  the  several  class- 
rooms, as  well  as  by  the  general  rules  he  may  adopt,  he  may 
so  influence  the  whole  department  as  to  make  it  throughout 
bear  testimony  to  his  faithfulness  and  skill.  This  regulation 
is  believed  to  be  peculiar  to  the  schools  of  the  city,  and  is  a 
large  element  in  their  success. 


SALARIES  OF  TEACHERS. 

The  following  are  the  by-laws  relating  to  the  salaries  of 
teachers. 

1  Male  Department. 

The  salaries  paid  to  male  principals  of  schools  shall  be  based  upon  the 
average  attendance  of  their  respective  Departments,  for  the  year  ending  on 
the  preceding  31st  day  of  December,  and  shall  be  as  follows,  viz :  For  each 
school  having  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  average  attendance, 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and  not  more  than  three  hundred  average  at- 
tendance, two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more 
than  three  hundred  and  not  more  than  five  hundred  average  attendance,  two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than 
five  hundred  average  attendance,  three  thousand  dollars. 

To  vice-principals  of  schools  having  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  aver- 
age attendance,  two  thousand  dollars.  To  male  assistants,  where  but  one  is 

• 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  151 

employed  in  a  school  having  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  average  attend- 
ance, fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  when  more  than  one  is  employed,  an 
average  not  exceeding  fourteen  hundred  dollars. 

To  female  assistants,  an  average  not  exceeding  seven  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars. 

2.  Female  Departments. 

To  principals,  of  each  school  having  one  hundred  pupils  or  less  in  average 
attendance,  twelve  hundred  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than  one 
hundred,  and  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  in  average  attend- 
ance, thirteen  hundred  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  and  not  more  than  three  hundred  average  attendance,  fifteen 
hundred  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than  three  hundred,  and  not 
more  than  five  hundred  average  attendance,  sixteen  hundred  dollars.  For 
each  school  having  more  than  five  hundred  average  attendance,  seventeen  hun- 
dred dollars. 

To  vice-principals  of  schools  having  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  aver- 
age attendance,  eleven  hundred  dollars.  To  assistants,  an  average  not  ex- 
ceeding six  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

3.  Primary  Departments  and  Schools. 

To  principals  for  each  school  having  two  hundred  pupils  or  less  in  average 
attendance,  one  thousand  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than  two 
hundred,  and  not  more  than  four  hundred  pupils  average  attendance,  eleven 
hundred  dollars.  For  each  school  having  more  than  four  hundred,  and  not 
more  than  six  hundred  average  attendance,  thirteen  hundred  dollars.  For 
each  school  having  more  than  six  hundred  average  attendance,  fifteen  hundred 
dollars. 

To  vice-principals  of  schools  having  more  than  three  hundred,  and  not  more 
than  ten  hundred  pupils  average  attendance,  nine  hundred  dollars.  To  vice- 
principals  of  schools  having  more  than  ten  hundred  pupils  average  attendance, 
one  thousand  dollars. 

To  assistants,  an  average  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars.  The  mini- 
mum salary  paid  to  any  teacher  employed  in  the  schools  under  the  control  of 
this  Board  shall  be  four  hundred  dollars.  The  section  shall  not  apply  to  teach- 
ers who  have  not  a  full  or  permanent  certificate. 

CLERK'S  AND  SUPERINTENDENT'S  DEPARTMENTS. 

The  duties  of  these  officers,  and  especially  those  of  the 
Superintendent,  are  fully  stated  in  the  law,  of  which  a  copy 
is  found  in  this  report.  Yet  the  practical  working  of  their 
powers  and  duties  is  so  clearly  and  succinctly  set  forth  in  a 
masterly  report  which  has  recently  been  published  in  a  neigh- 
boring city,  that  liberty  is  taken  to  transcribe  some  of  its  state- 
ments, as  apposite  to  this  occasion. 


152  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

"  Under  the  administration  of  the  system  as  carried  out  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  a  degree  of  order,  precision,  and  en- 
ergy of  action  has  been  attained,  which  has  carried,  and,  if 
persevered  in,  must  continue  to  carry  forward  the  great  work 
of  popular  education  in  the  city  of  New  York  with  a  steady 
and  strong  progress,  both  in  the  broadness  of  its  diffusion  and 
the  excellence  of  its  character.  In  the  administration  of  the 
system,  while  it  is  important  that  all  its  officers  should  be 
competent  and  faithful,  yet  its  practical  efficiency  is  largely 
dependent  upon  the  capacity  and  fidelity  of  two  of  these  offi- 
cers :  First,  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  who  has  un- 
der him  a  deputy  clerk,  and  as  many  assistant  clerks  as  the 
Board  may  direct,  all  of  whom  are  under  the  direction  of  the 
clerk.  We  can  not  undertake  to.  enumerate  all  his  powers 
and  duties,  but  we  can  only  say  generally  that  his  office  is  the 
centre  around  which  the  whole  work  revolves,  the  point  from 
which  essentially  every  thing  emanates,  and  to  which  it  re- 
turns ;  and  the  returns  are  required  to  be  made  so  full  and 
precise,  and  the  record  of  them  kept  so  perfect  and  so  ar- 
ranged, that  it  is  possible  to  obtain  at  the  clerk's  office  at  any 
time  all  the  essential  facts  in  relation  to  every  school,  viz., 
the  names,  number,  salaries,  grades  of  its  teachers,  the  num- 
ber of  its  pupils,  the  average  attendance,  and  the  amount  of 
supplies  of  all  kinds,  books,  stationery,  fuel,  etc.,  with  the  cost 
of  the  same;  also  the  cost  of  repairs,  cleaning,  rents,  gas, 
printing,  advertising,  etc.,  and  this  for  each  District  School, 
from  the  Free  Academy  down  to  the  smallest  Ward  School. 
Second,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  and  his  assist- 
ants, who  visit  and  examine  the  schools,  as  to  their  condition 
and  progress,  and  the  fidelity  and  efficiency  of  the  teachers. 
As  the  clerk's  office  is  the  centre  of  the  material  administra- 
tion of  the  New  York  system,  so  the  superintendent's  office 
is  the  centre  of  its  intellectual  and  moral  efficiency,  of  the 
character  of  the  schools  as  instrumentalities  of  education,  and 
of  the  character  of  the  teachers  as  competent  and  efficient  in- 
structors, exemplars,  and  guides  to  the  young.  The  trustees 
of  the  ward  have  the  power  to  appoint  the  teachers  of  all 


PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  SCHOOLS.  153 

grades  in  the  schools  of  the  ward,  but  the  superintendent  vir- 
tually determines  from  among  whom  the  appointments  shall 
be  made,  and  the  tenure  of  office  depends  mainly  upon  him, 
because  no  person  can  be  appointed  as  teacher  by  the  trustees 
unless  holding  a  license  or  certificate,  signed  by  the  superin- 
tendent, stating  the  grade  of  teacher  for  which  the  holder  is 
qualified ;  and  if  subsequently  experience,  reached  through 
the  visits  and  examinations  of  the  superintendent  or  his  assist- 
ants, shows  that  the  holder  is  not  qualified,  wants  tact,  ener- 
gy, efficiency,  or  is  in  any  way  incompetent  or  unfit  for  the 
work,  the  license  or  certificate  is  revoked,  and  the  teacher  re- 
moved. This  plan  of  intrusting  the  visitations  and  examina- 
tions of  the  schools,  the  power  to  j  udge  of  the  practical  effi- 
ciency, competency,  and  fidelity  of  the  teachers,  etc.,  mainly 
and  specially  to  experts,  to  persons  appointed  to  the  work  be- 
cause their  culture,  mental  habits,  and  experience  specially  fit 
them  for  it,  must  tend  to  make  the  schools  progressive,  to  se- 
cure the  services  of  the  best  teachers  and  the  adoption  of  the 
best  methods. 

"  Of  course  there  are  other  officers,  such  as  the  superinten- 
dent of  school  buildings,  the  engineer,  the  inspector  of  fuel, 
and  the  various  sub-committees  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
whose  fidelity  in  the  special  work  assigned  them  contributes 
largely  to  the  successful  working  of  the  whole  organization. 
Yet  it  seems  to  be  mainly  through  these  two  channels — the 
Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  with  his  assistants,  and  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  with  his  assistants,  that  the 
New  York  system  has  reached  its  thorough  and  exact  external, 
its  spirited  and  progressive  internal  administration." 


15-1  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


XVII. 

SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

School-houses  of  the  Public  School  Society. — Successive  and  Recent  Improve- 
ments.—  Specimens  of  New  Buildings. — Illustrations. —  The  general  Pol- 
icy of  the  Board  as  to  School-houses. 

IN  looking  over  the  history  of  the  Common  Schools  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  some  consideration  must  necessarily  be 
given  to  an  examination  of  the  nature  of  the  buildings  erect- 
ed for  the  use  of  these  schools,  both  on  account  of  the  extent 
of  the  provision  that  has  been  made  in  the  way  of  sites  and 
buildings,  and  because  the  schools  themselves  must  be  helped 
or  hindered- — in  all  that  pertains  to  their  efficient  usefulness — 
by  the  character  and  condition  of  the  accommodations  pro- 
vided for  them.  While  very  much  or  most  of  the  success  of 
a  school  depends  on  the  ability  of  the  instructors  engaged  in 
its  management,  it  is  yet  a  matter  of  no  little  importance  that 
the  school-house  and  its  appointments  should  be  of  the  best 
character  that  it  is  possible,  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
to  give.  There  is  a  sort  of  inspiration  almost  about  a  well- 
arranged  and  properly-appointed  building  that  affects  both 
teachers  and  pupils,  makes  the  work  of  the  school-room  seem 
easier,  and  gives  that  cheerful  and  hopeful  spirit  by  which 
success  is  attained. 

The  construction  and  arrangement  of  school-houses  in  this 
city  have  undergone  numerous  changes  within  the  last  half- 
century,  all  of  which  have  been  made  with  a  view  of  obtain- 
ing the  best  type — for  the  time — of  a  city  school -house.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  note  through  these  gradual  changes  that 
the  progress  made  has  been  almost  uniformly  on  the  same 
line,  as  though  the  various  improvements  that  have  been  in- 
troduced from  time  to  time  were  but  an  amplification  and 


A    PRIMARY    SCHOOL. 

FIGUIIE  1.     (Front  View.) 

Elevation  of  a  Primary  School,  built  on  a  lot  of  ground  25  by  100  feet. 
The  first  story  is  used  as  a  play-ground,  which  is  more  fully  explained  in  Fig. 
2.  The  main  building  is  25  feet  front,  by  62£  feet  deep  ;  the  stair  building  is 
27  feet  by  11  feet  8  inches.  The  main  building  is  placed  6  or  8  feet  from  the 
line  of  the  street,  according  to  the  depth  of  the  lot.  The  walls  above  the 
ground  are  built  entirely  of  brick.  The  roof  is  of  tin,  and  the  gutters  of  cop- 
per. The  lower  doors  and  windows  have  iron  bars  inserted  for  safety  and  to 
admit  a  free  circulation  of  air  in  summer,  but  are  closed  with  sashes  in  the  win- 
ter. 

The  sashes  in  all  the  Primary  Schools  are  hung  the  same  as  those  in  the 
Public  Schools,  so  as  to  be  moved  up  and  down  at  pleasure.  The  first  story, 
or  play-ground,  is  1%  feet  high  in  the  clear  ;  the  second  and  third  stories,  each 
1 2  feet  high  in  the  clear. 

Figures  1  and  2  exhibit  the  plans  and  elevation  of  a  Model  Primary  School 
House  (for  two  departments)  adopted  by  the  Public  School  Society.  That  So- 
ciety, after  1844,  erected  all  their  Primary  Schools  after  this  plan. 


•»••"••«»••        •»*•*»       ;    J  >       > 


FIG.  2. — GROUND  PLAN  OF  FIRST    STORY,  OR  PLAT-GROUND,   YARDS,  PRIVIES, 
STAIR   BUILDING,   ETC. 


N — Side-walk,  blue-stone  flagging. 

J — Court-yards,  blue-stone  flag- 
ging ;  separated  from  the  side- walk  by 
iron  railing. 

CC — Stairways;  the  side  on  which 
Fig.  2  is  marked  leading  to  the  Boys' 
Department,  or  third  story. 


F  L — Places  for  pine  (kindling) 
wood,  under  the  stairs. 

E — Sand-box  for  both  departments. 

h  h — Piles  of  wood,  about  4J-  ft.  high. 

T  I — Lines  on  which  the  scholars 
are  marshalled  previous  to  entering 
school. 


SCHOOL-HOUSES.  155 

natural  outgrowth  of  the  original  idea  brought  about  by  the 
experience  gained  in  the  workings  of  the  system. 

The  school  buildings  erected  by  the  late.  Public  School 
Society  were  all  built  upon  the  same  general  plan,  and  that 
plan — owing  no  doubt  to  the  limited  funds  of  the  Society — 
was  a  very  economical  one.  Their  "  Model  Primary  School- 
house  "  was  built  upon  a  single  lot,  covering  the  whole  width 
— twenty-five  feet — to  a  depth  of  sixty -two  feet,  and  at  that 
point  was  joined  by  a  rear  stairway  wing  some  eleven  feet 
wide  by  twenty-eight  feet  long.  By  this  reduction  in  the 
width,  some  rear  light  was  secured ;  but  this  was  of  service 
only  on  the  brightest  days,  and  when  the  fresh  air  and  sun- 
shine were  not  shut  out  by  rear  buildings  on  adjoining  lots. 

Plans  of  one  of  these  buildings  are  herewith  presented, 
which  will  show  very  clearly  the  arrangement  of  the  several 
floors. 

It  will  be  seen  that  compactness  and  severe  plainness  are 
the  main  features  of  this  plan.  A  building  like  the  above 
accommodated  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  scholars.  The 
arrangement  of  seats  was  very  inconvenient,  yet  one  of  these 
buildings  was  considered,  thirty  years  ago,  as  a  great  improve- 
ment on  any  thing  that  had  preceded  it. 

The  buildings  for  "  Public  Schools,"  as  they  were  called, 
corresponded  to  the  present  Grammar  School-houses,  and 
contained  rooms  for  three  departments,  which  were  desig- 
nated as  "  Boys',"  "  Girls',"  and  "  Primary."  The  last  of  these 
was  located  in  the  basement,  the  floor  of  which  was  generally 
about  five  feet  below  the  sidewalk  line,  and  the  ceiling  per- 
haps the  same  distance  above  it.  The  "  Girls' "  school  was  on 
the  main  floor,  and  the  "  Boys' "  on  the  upper,  or  second  floor. 
The  Primary  consisted  of  one  large  room,  comprising  the 
whole  space  enclosed  within  the  walls,  which  was  divided  in 
the  middle  at  times  by  sliding  doors  so  as  to  separate  the 
smaller  children — the  abecedarians  —  from  those  who  were 
more  advanced  in  their  studies.  For  the  accommodation  of 
these  little  ones,  a  gallery  of  rising  steps  was  provided  at  one 
end  of  the  room  ;  for  the  larger  scholars,  there  were  two  rows 


156  •      HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

of  seats  next  the  walls  on  the  sides  and  opposite  end  of  the 
room,  and  the  teacher's  desk  being  placed  midway  between 
the  two  sections,  near  the  line  of  the  sliding  doors,  neces- 
sitated "  giving  the  cold  shoulder  "  to  one  division  when  facing 
the  other.  By  the  arrangement  of  seats  referred  to,  a  large 
space  was  left  in  the  central  portion  of  the  room  for  marshal- 
ing the  scholars,  and  for  the  numerous  drafts  of  the  monito- 
rial system. 

The  Boys'  and  Girls'  Departments  were  usually  similar  in 
their  plan,  and  were  much  better  arranged  for  seating  pur- 
poses than  the  Primary ;  yet  even  in  these  schools  the  facil- 
ities for  instruction  were  very  limited.  Usually  but  two  c] ass- 
rooms  were  provided,  and  these  would  each  seat  about  fifty 
pupils,  the  remainder  of  necessity  received  were  taught  in 
the  large  room,  or  alternated  in  the  use  of  the  two  class- 
rooms. A  visitors'  entrance  at  the  front  led  to  two,  and 
sometimes  to  all  of  the  Departments,  and  pupils'  entrances 
for  each  department  were  located  at  the  rear  of  the  building. 
This  was  in  many  cases  a  long,  straight,  narrow  stairway,  and 
external  to  the  building. 

The  capacity  of  these  buildings  was  for  about  ten  or  eleven 
hundred  pupils.  The  accompanying  diagrams,  representing 
"  Public  School  No.  17  "  (now  Grammar  School  No.  16),  on 
West  Thirteenth  Street,  in  the  Ninth  "Ward,  will  give  a  gen- 
eral idea  of  the  arrangements  of  the  floors  of  such  a  building 
as  has  been  described ;  but  this  being  the  last  but  one  of  the 
buildings  erected  by  the  late  Public  School  Society,  has  em- 
braced in  it  many  improvements  that  were  not  to  be  found 
in  the  earlier  buildings,  not  the  least  important  of  which  is 
the  abandonment  of  the  under-ground  basement,  the  provid- 
ing of  one  or  two  more  class-rooms,  and  the  adoption  of  stair- 
cases having  frequent  landings.  Such  buildings,  being  of 
small  size,  were  not  as  economical  as  they  might  at  first  seem. 
They  required  a  large  number  of  buildings  for  a  moderate 
number  of  pupils;  and  were  the  same  sort  of  economical 
views  to  prevail  now,  and  school-houses  to  be  built  upon  the 
plans  just  considered,  it  would  require  for  the  accommodation 


GRAMMAR    SCHOOL    HOUSE    N  O.  16. 

(Formerly  Public  School  No.  17.) 
THIRTEENTH  STREET,  NEAR  THE   SEVENTH  AVENUE. 


FIG.  1.— GROUND  PLAN  OF  PRIMARY  DEPARTMENT,  YARDS,  WOOD-HOUSES,  ETC. 


A— Primary  School-room,  39  by  38 
feet. 

B— Infant  School-  room,  39  by  30  ft. 

C — Room  in  stair  building  for 
brooms,  brashes,  pails,  etc. 

J — Boys'  wardrobe,  1 6^  by  8  ft. 

K— Girls'  wardrobe,  12\  by  8  ft. 

M— Gallery,  32  by  11  feet ;  seats  for 
200  children.' 

N  N— Desks,  each  16|  feet  long- 
each  12  or  13  scholars. 

()— Teachers'  table. 

L — Front  door,  or  main  entrance. 

The  stations  for  the  classes,  when 
reading,  is  in  the  centre  passage,  front- 
ing the  desks.  All  doors  open  outward. 

R  R — Gates,  or  scholar's  entrance. 

U  U — Scholars'  entrance  to  Pri- 
mary Department. 

S— Scholars'  entrance,  Boys'  De- 
partment. 


T — Scholars' 
partment. 


entrance,  Girls'  De- 


Q— Sliding-doors,  28  by  9£  feet. 

P  P— Stoves. 

Z  Z — Flues,  or  chimneys. 

1 1 — Play-ground,  or  yard,  102  by 
26  feet;  paved  with  brick. 

D  D— Wood-houses,  83  by  2|  feet, 
and  6  feet  high  ;  the  front  of  which  is 
made  of  hemlock  strips,  4  by  2  inches, 
set  perpendicularly  2  inches  apart,  to 
allow  a  free  circulation  of  air. 

E  E — Roof  of  wood-houses,  pro- 
jecting 3^  feet  beyond  the  front  of  the 
houses;  forming  a  shelter  for  the 
scholars  in  stormy  weather. 

H  II — Gutters  of  blue  stone,  to  con- 
duct the  waste  water  from  the  wood- 
houses  and  yards  to  the  street. 

F  F— Privies,  1 2  by  8  feet. 

G  G— Boxes  for  sand,  3  by  2|  feet. 

W — Front  walk,  blue-stone  flagging. 

X — Court-yard,  8|  feet  wide. 

Y  Y — Stone  foundation  blocks,  to 
which  iron  railing  in  front  is  secured. 


F'G.  2.— GROUND  PLAN  OF  THE  BOYS'  DEPARTMENT,  OR  THIRD  STORT ;  AND 
WILL  ANSWER  ALSO  FOR  THE  SECOND  STORY,  OR  GIRLS'  DEPARTMENT, 
EXCEPT  SOME  SLIGHT  DIFFERENCES  IN  THE  STAIRS. 


A — School-room. 

B  B — Recitation-rooms. 

C — Recitation-rooms. 

D— Receiving-room,  and  scholars' 
entrance ;  this  room  is  furnished  with 
a  sufficient  number  of  cloak  and  hat 
hooks,  to  accommodate  all  the  schol- 
ars in  each  department. 

I — Front  entrance  and  stairway. 

K — Book  closet. 

L  L  L  L — Stoves. 

G— Platform. 


H— Teachers'  desk,  with  a  shelf  at 
each  end  for  globes. 

E  E— Scholars'  desks ;  each  12  feet 
8  inches  long— 19  inches  for  each  schol- 
ar. 

F  F — A  seat  at  the  end  of  the  desk, 
I  with  a  movable  shelf  for  the  purpose 
of  a  desk. 

The  front  of  the  teachers'  desk  to- 
ward the  scholars  is  formed  by  a  black- 
board 3  feet  wide,  and  extending  the 
whole  length  of  the  desk. 


SCHOOL-HOUSES.  157 

of  the  present  number  of  children  attending  the  public  schools 
of  this  city,  nearly  two  hundred  buildings  instead  of  the  eight}?- 
or  ninety  that  are  now  used  for  the  purpose,  and  the  cost  of 
managing  the  school  system  would  be  greatly  increased. 

It  is  unnecessary  at  this  late  day  to  enter  into  any  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  large  buildings  as  being  more  economical — 
either  in  construction,  repairs,  or  convenience,  than  an  equiv- 
alent number  of  small  ones  for  school  purposes.  The  fact  is 
too  long  and  too  well  established  to  require  any  thing  to  be 
said  to  substantiate  it. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  "Model  Primary 
School "  on  a  single  lot,  as  formerly  erected,  gave  accommo- 
dations for  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  pupils.  The  mod- 
ern Primary  School  on  two  or  three  lots  gives  much  better 
accommodation  for  three  or  five  times  that  number.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  modern  plans,  both  Grammar  and  Primary, 
furnish  a  large  number  of  class-rooms ;  by  which  the  schools 
can  be  thoroughly  classified,  and  the  ends  of  teaching  be  bet- 
ter subserved. 

When,  in  1853,  the  Public  School  Society  was  united  with 
the  Board  of  Education,  that  society  transferred  to  the  Board 
some  thirty-four  buildings  which  were  owned  and  had  been 
erected  by  them.  Five  of  these  have  since  been  abandoned, 
being  no  longer  wanted  for  school  purposes,  and,  with  the 
sites  on  which  they  stood,  surrendered,  to  the  city  authorities. 
All  of  the  others  have  been  extensively  altered  and  improved, 
in  obedience  to  modern  requirements,  and  to  furnish  the  ad- 
ditional accommodations  that  have  been  so  urgently  demand- 
ed. Nine  of  them  have  been  entirely  rebuilt,  some  even  after 
having  previously  undergone  enlargement. 

In  addition  to  such  alteration  and  rebuilding  of  the  Pub- 
lic School  edifices,  the  Board  of  Education  has,  since  the  year 
1853,  enlarged  or  rebuilt  thirty-two  of  the  Ward  School- 
houses  (Grammar  and  Primary),  and  has  erected  twenty-nine 
new  buildings. 

There  are  now  in  this  city  twenty-nine  Primary  School- 
houses  and  fifty-five  Grammar  School-houses,  in  addition  to 


158  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

the  hired  premises  that  are  used  by  the  schools  under  the 
control  of  the  Board  of  Education ;  nine  of  the  former  and 
five  of  the  latter  are  all  that  are  left  of  the  thirty-four  build- 
ings that  were  erected  by  the  late  Public  School  Society. 
Of  the  remaining  Primaries,  four  are  buildings  that  were  pur- 
chased with  the  sites  on  which  they  stand,  and  have  been  al- 
tered and  adapted  to  school  purposes.  The  others  have  been 
erected  by  the  Board  for  the  special  purpose  for  which  they 
are  used,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  best  known  principles 
of  construction  and  arrangement,  fitted  with  all  conveniences 
for  teachers  and  pupils,  and  supplied  with  the  best  styles 
of  furniture,  and  the  most  approved  heating  and  ventilating 
apparatus.  The  play-grounds  are  in  all  cases  ample,  and  so 
arranged  that  the  pupils  at  recess  can  enjoy  their  sports  in 
the  open  air  or  under  cover,  as  they  may  prefer,  or  circum- 
stances may  admit 

The  school  sites  belonging  to  the  Board  comprise  over 
three  hundred  lots,  and,  if  placed  together  in  blocks  with  the 
streets  usually  allowed,  would  include  upward  of  twenty  acres 
of  ground  ;  and  the  floors  of  the  school  buildings  placed  in 
the  same  manner,  would  comprise  some  sixty  acres  more — 
quite  a  little  farm,  upon  which  many  laborers  are  busily  en- 
gaged sowing  the  seed,  from  which  abundant  harvests  of  un- 
told value  are  annually  gathered  to  enrich  the  nation. 

From  the  general  statement  preceding  it  will  be  seen  that 
great  improvements  have  been  made  within  a  few  years  past 
in  the  school  buildings  of  this  city ;  formerly  the  Primary 
Departments  were  located  in  basements  that  were  seldom 
light  and  cheerful,  and  always  subject  to  annoyances  of  vari- 
ous kinds  —  now  all  these  schools  are  well  provided  for 
above  ground,  and  free  from  disturbance ;  then  a  couple  of 
class-rooms  for  an  upper  department  were  considered  suffi- 
cient ;  now  there  are  few  buildings  that  have  less  than  eight 
of  these  rooms  for  any  department  including  the  Primary. 
A  building  that  accommodated  one  thousand  pupils  was  con- 
sidered a  wonder.  Modern  buildings  on  the  same  sites  ac- 
commodate in  a  better  manner  double  that  number.  Once 


SCHOOL-HOUSES.  159 

the  school-houses  of  the  city  were  remarkable  for  their  ex- 
treme plainness,  but  now  a  wiser  economy  provides  for  the 
judicious  adornment  of  these  edifices,  that  they  may  present 
attractions  to  those  for  whose  benefit  they  were  erected. 

The  school-houses  of  to-day  are  solidly  built,  convenient- 
ly arranged,  well  supplied  with  apparatus,  and  yet  probably 
cost  less  than  any  other  public  buildings  of  the  same  class 
constructed  at  the  same  time  and  under  similar  circumstances. 
Improvements  are  constantly  sought  after  each  new  building 
is  better  in  some  point  than  its  immediate  predecessor.  As 
an  indication  of  the  latest  stages  of  advancement  in  this  re- 
spect, the  following  views  and  diagrams,  with  descriptions,  are 
given,  of  several  buildings  that  have  recently  been  com- 
menced, or  about  being  put  under  contract. 


GRAMMAR  SCHOOL-HOUSE  NO.  56. 

On  West  Eighteenth  Street,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth 
avenues,  a  new  building  is  in  course  of  erection  which  is  to 
be  occupied  by  Grammar  School  No.  56.  This  is  a  school 
for  females  only,  and  will  consist  of  two  Departments — one 
Grammar  and  one  Primary — each  of  which  will  have  as- 
signed to  it  several  more  class-rooms  than  could  be  allowed 
in  a  building  arranged  (as  most  of  the  Grammar  School- 
houses  are)  for  three  departments.  There  are  many  advan- 
tages in  this  arrangement,  the  most  prominent  of  which  is  the 
additional  room  that  can  be  assigned  to  the  scholars  of  the 
Primary  grades,  these  forming  about  two-thirds  of  the 
whole  number  of  pupils.  Their  proper  accommodation  is  an 
important  matter.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  structure  upon  an  examination  of  the  exterior 
vie.w,  and  the  plans  of  the  internal  arrangement  that  are 
herewith  presented.  The  whole  front  of  the  building,  one 
hundred  feet  in  length,  and  having  a  depth  of  about  thirty 
feet,  is  occupied  on  each  floor  by  the  entrance-hall  and  stair- 
ways, with  two  large  class-rooms  on  either  hand  ;  behind  the 
central  portion  of  this  front  is  the  main  body  of  the  building 


160  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

— about  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  running  back  nearly  sixty 
feet — which  contains  on  the  second  floor  the  reception  and 
gallery  rooms  of  the  Primary  Department;  the  second  floor  is 
given  entirely  to  class-rooms,  and  the  whole  of  the  upper  floor 
of  this  portion  of  the  building  is  occupied  by  the  grammar 
reception-room  ;  two  additional  class-rooms  on  each  floor  arc 
contained  in  the  wings  on  each  side  at  the  rear.  On  each  of 
these  floors  two  large  wardrobes  are  provided  for  the  use  of 
the  teachers  of  the  school,  in  addition  to  those  for  the  use  of 
the  pupils.  Four  stone  stairways  for  the  pupils'  use  connect 
with  each  of  the  floors  from  the  ground  to  the  upper  depart- 
ment. On  the  ground  floor  are  the  enclosed  play-rooms, 
apartments  for  the  janitor,  a  meeting-room  for  the  school 
trustees,  etc.  This  building  will  accommodate  from  fifteen 
hundred  to  two  thousand  scholars. 

The  exterior  of  this  school-house  is  very  effective  in  its 
design ;  and  while  it  can  not  well  be  mistaken  for  any  thing 
else  than  a  school-house,  it  is  yet  a  pleasant  departure  from 
the  set  order  of  things  that  has  hitherto  marked  this  class  of 
public  buildings.  The  "  squat"  appearance  that  generally  ac- 
companies a  building  of  the  same  breadth  of  front  as  this,  is 
here  avoided  by  the  recessions  in  the  front,  which  break  the 
horizontal  lines,  and  give  instead  so  many  vertical  sections. 
And  the  bold  bringing  out  of  the  central  tower,  making  the 
main  entrance  a  prominent  feature,  carries  the  eye  upward 
with  pleasant  relief.  While  the  building  is  one  of  the  most 
solid  and  substantial  character,  there  is  yet  no  appearance  of 
undue  heaviness.  The  ornamentation  is  simple,  and  consists 
rather  in  the  judicious  use  of  material  than  in  having  it  highly 
wrought.  The  windows  and  other  openings  exhibit  in  a 
variety  of  forms  the  strength  and  beauty  of  the  arch  line,  yet 
variety  is  not  introduced  at  the  expense  of  the  unity  of  the  de- 
sign. The  first  story  of  the  front  of  the  building  is  of  brown 
stone,  channeled  with  vermiculated  blocks  and  voussoirs 
at  the  openings ;  the  other  stories  are  faced  with  Philadelphia 
pressed  brick,  and  trimmed  with  polished  brown  stone. 

The  exterior  sections  of  the  front  are  ornamented  with 


SIXTEENTH    WARD    SCHOOL    NO.   56. 

EIGHTEENTH  STREET.      (FIRST  STORY.) 


SIXTEENTH    WARD    GRAMMAR    SCHOOL    NO,   56. 

EIGHTEENTH  STREET.      (THIRD  STORY.) 


CLASS  ROOM 

19X25/2 

1  —1 


CIASS  ROOM 
19X23^ 

I—         a 


RECEPTION  ROOM 
4-7  x-  6Z 


SIXTEENTH    WARD    GRAMMAR    SCHOOL    NO.   56. 

EIGHTEENTH  STREET.      (FOURTH  STORY.) 


SCHOOL-HOUSES.  161 

paneled  pilasters  of  brick,  and  the  corners  of  the  tower  are 
decorated  with  groins  of  brown  stone.  A  heavily  moulded 
cornice  with  coupled  brackets  and  scroll  modillions  surmounts 
the  building,  above  which  is  a  curved  roof  slated  in  two  col- 
ors and  crowned  by  a  handsome  balustrade.  The  tower  rises 
some  feet  above  the  main  cornice,  and  has  a  light  and  airy 
lookout  above  the  roof. 

Built  of  the  best  materials,  and  with  the  most  skilled  labor, 
this  school-house  will  be'  a  source  of  pride,  not  only  to  those 
who  are  immediately  engaged  or  interested  in  its  construc- 
tion, but  also  to  every  citizen  who.  desires  that  the  schools  of 
New  York  should  maintain  the  supremacy  they  have  so  long 
and  so  justly  held. 

PRIMARY  SCHOOL-HOUSE  NO.  16. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  constantly  creates  new  de- 
mands for  school  accommodation,  and  the  class  of  inhabitants 
in  a  given  locality  frequently  determines  the  grade  of  ac- 
commodation required  in  that  neighborhood.  In  one  case 
Grammar  pupils  may  constitute  the  majority  requiring  these 
facilities,  while  in  another  the  Primary  applicants  may  large- 
ly outnumber  the  Grammar.  In  the  Twenty -first  Ward 
there  are  two  Grammar  School  buildings,  the  Primary  De- 
partments of  which  are  always  full  to  overflowing,  their  com- 
bined average  attendance  being  upward  of  twenty-five  hun- 
dred ;  yet  so  great  has  been  the  number  seeking  admission 
where  not  another  could  be  taken,  that  it  became  necessary 
to  establish  in.  that  section  of  the  city  a  new  Primary  School. 
Lots  were  accordingly  purchased  on  East  Thirty-second 
Street  midway  between  the  two  schools  already  established, 
and  a  building— of  which  the.  accompanying  diagrams  are  a 
correct  representation — is  about  to  be  erected  thereon,  to  be 
known  as  Primary  School-house  No.  16. 

In  its  general  features  the  plan  of  this  building  does  not 
differ  materially  from  the  Grammar  School  plan  just  consider- 
ed; although  the  frontage  of  the  lots  is  some  twenty  feet  less, 

L 


162  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

the  arrangement  of  the  rooms  and  stairways  is  very  much 
the  same ;  the  purpose  of  the  building,  however,  is  different. 
The  front  of  the  first  floor  contains  the  janitor's  apartments, 
very  conveniently  arranged ;  back  of  this  are  the  play- 
grounds, both  open  and  covered,  for  the  pupils.  A  visitors' 
entrance  at  the  centre  of  the  front  leads  to  all  the  Depart- 
ments, and  four  fire-proof  stairways,  conveniently  located, 
connect  the  play-grounds  with  the  several  floors  above.  The 
second  and  third  floors  are  similar  in  arrangement,  each  hav- 
ing a  large  assembling-room,  with  gallery-rooms  for  the  small- 
est scholars  in  the  rear  of,  this.  There  are  two  class-rooms 
at  the  sides  of  the  gallery-rooms,  and  four  more  in  front  of 
the  main  room.  In  the  stairway  wings  are  found  the  rooms 
.with  wardrobes,  etc.,  for  the  teachers'  use.  The  accommo- 
dation afforded  by  this  building  will  be, for  between  twelve 
to  fifteen  hundred  pupils,  which  will  materially  relieve  the 
pressing  wants  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  it  is  situated. 

The  exterior  view  shows  again  what  may  be  done  toward 
securing  a  really  handsome  building  by  a  judicious  use  of 
simple  material,  without  incurring  the  expense  involved  in 
elaborate  ornamentation.  The  characteristics  of  this  front  are 
boldness  and  simplicity :  the  material  used  is  principally 
Philadelphia  pressed  brick ;  the  rustic-work  of  the  first  story, 
and  the  keys  and  spring-blocks  of  the  windows,  with  the  sills 
and  sill  courses,  being  of  polished  brown  stone.  The  impos- 
ing entrance,  with  its  tower,  the  wing  projections,  and  the 
arches  of  the  windows  and  doors,  give  an  air  of  solidity  to  the 
structure  that  is  at  once  pleasing  to  the  eye  and  satisfactory 
to ;  the  sense.  Above  the  cornice — which  is  a  fine  feature  in 
itself — the  roof  of  the  front  section  is  carried  up  in  a  convex 
Mansard  curve,  handsomely  slated,  and  finished  with  a  bal- 
ustrade. The  other  portions  of  the  building  are  covered  with 
a  tin  roof. 

This  building  possesses  many  improvements  over  any  pre- 
viously erected,  and  maybe  fairly  considered  a  model  Pri- 
mary School-house. 


TWENTY-FIRST    WARD    PRIMARY    SCHOOL    NO.    16. 

THIRTY-SECOND   STREET.      (FIRST  STORY.) 


TWENTY-FIRST    WARD    PRIMARY    SCHOOL    NO.    16. 
THIRTY-SECOND   STREET.      (SECOND   AND   TIIIRD   STORIES.) 


SCHOOL-HOUSES,  163 


COLORED  SCHOOL-HOUSE  NO.  3. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  the  colored  children  of  this 
city  have  been  provided  with  the  means  of  education  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  children  of  white  parentage.  The  school 
buildings,  the  instructors,  the  supplies  of  books  and  apparatus 
have  been  of  identically  the  same  character  in  either  case. 
The  colored  people  are  given  to  colonizing,  and,  in  recogni- 
tion of  this  fact,  the  schools  for  their  use  have  been  located 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  if  not  directly  in  the  midst, 
of  the  communities  thus  formed. 

The  late  Public  School  Society  erected  two  buildings  for 
Colored  Schools,  which  at  the  time  they  were  built  were  as 
good  as  any  others  in  the  city.  One  of  these,  No.  2,  on  Lau- 
rens  Street  is  still  standing,  and  in  good  order,  having  recent- 
ly been  thoroughly  overhauled  and  remodeled  ;  and  the  other, 
No.  1,  after  having  been  used  for  many  years,  was  demolish- 
ed, and  a  new  building  erected  in  the  year  1859,  which  was 
generally  considered  to  be  the  finest  colored  school-house  in 
the  United  States. 

By  the  changes  of  population  already  alluded  to,  quite  a 
large  number  of  the  colored  people  within  a  few  years  past 
have  left  the  lower  for  the  upper  wards  of  the  city,  and  for 
their  benefit  Colored  School  No.  6 — now  known,  however, 
as  No.  3 — was  established.  Success  attended  this  school ; 
and  the  Board  of  Education,  with  a  desire  to  furnish  it  as 
good  accommodations  as  for  any  other,  has  recently  pur- 
chased a/fine  school  site'  on  the  northerly  side  of  West 
Forty-first  Street,  between  Seventh  and  Eighth  Avenues, 
on  which  to  erect  a  building  for  its  use.  The  view,  and 
plans  accompanying,  represent  new  Colored  School-house 
No.  3. 

The  several  floors  of  this  building  are  very  much  alike. 
A  commodious  assembling — or  reception-room — and  five 
class  rooms  being  furnished  on  each  floor.  The  three  class- 
rooms at  the  rear  can  be  thrown  into  one  large  open  room— 


164  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION". 

in  connection  with  the  assembly — by  the  use  of  the  sliding 
doors ;  the  usual  visitors'  entrance  and  pupils'  stairways  are 
shown  on  the  plans.  The  ceilings  are  high,  and  the  windows 
of  good  size,  to  secure  proper  light  and  ventilation.  The 
building  is  calculated  for  three  departments,  if  it  shall  be 
found  necessary  to  organize  them,  and  has  accommodations 
for  about  one  thousand  children.  The  yards  are  very 
roomy,  and  have  broad  sheds  at  the  sides  for  protection  in 
stormy  weather.  Apartments  for  the  janitor  are  provided 
in  the  basement,  and  in  the  story  formed  in  the  Mansard 
roof  over  the  front  portion  of  the  building. 

The  front  of  this  school-house  presents  a  very  neat  and 
tasteful  appearance  that  must  excite  admiration,  and  will  be  a 
credit  to  the  neighborhood  in  which  it  is  situated.  Built  of 
the  same  materials  as  the  other  buildings  that  have  already 
been  described,  it  is  yet  unlike  them,  and  has  a  character  all 
its  own. 

The  foregoing  examples  are  given  simply  to  show  what 
is  being  done  by  the  Board  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  ever- 
swelling  throng  of  eager  applicants  who  are  knocking  at  the  por- 
tals of  already  filled  school-houses,  and  presenting  their  claims 
to  a  share  in  the  benefits  conferred  by  our  system  of  free  educa- 
tion. As  readily  and  as  fully  as  the  means  of  the  Board  will 
permit,  these  claims  are  allowed,  but  they  can  not  be  entirely 
satisfied.  The  time  is  not  yet,  and  probably  will  not  soon 
be,  when  the  demand  for  school  accommodation  shall  cease ; 
for  liberal  as  is  the  fund  contributed  by  our  citizens  for  the 
maintenance  of  our  Public  Schools,  yet  it  can  not,  in  the  nat- 
ural course  of  things,  equal  the  demands  that  will  be  made 
upon  it  by  our  rapidly-increasing  population.  These  citizen 
tax-payers  are  urging  the  erection  of  additional  school-houses, 
and  it  would  undoubtedly  be  a  matter  of  no  little  difficulty 
to  obtain  their  consent  to  the  erection  of  a  poorer  class  of 
buildings  than  those  hitherto  erected ;  and  each  succeeding 
year  will  see  arise  in  various  sections  of  our  city  these  stately 
edifices  to  be  devoted  to  this  good  cause.  They  are  emphat- 
ically the  schools  of  the  people,  are  extending  their  influence 


Ml  Mi 


COLORED    SCHOOL    NO.   3. 

FORTY-FIRST   STREET.      (FIRST  STORY.) 


CLASS  MOM  I  CLASSROOM!  CLASSROOM 

ISxlSJi  IbXlS'/i  ISX19/J. 


COLORED    SCHOOL    NO.    3. 

FORTY-FIRST  STREET.      (SECOND  AND  THIRD  STORIES.) 


SCHOOL-HOUSES.  165 

for  good  day  by  day,  and  the  attractions  they  present  are 
wholesome  in  their  effects. 

The  buildings  required  will  be  erected  as  fast  as  circum- 
stances permit.  All  parts  of  the  city  will  receive  favorable  con- 
sideration whenever  additional  accommodations  are  necessary. 
In  neighborhoods  that  have  school-houses  of  the  old  methods 
of  construction,  they  will  be  remodeled  to  meet  this  want ;  but 
in  case  this  is  not  practicable,  they  will  be  removed,  and  new 
houses  built.  In  building  or  altering,  the  Board  has  taken 
every  precaution  to  guard  against  an  extravagant  use  of  the 
public  funds  under  its  control.  All  the  work  in  this  line  is 
done  by  contracts  based  upon  competitive  estimates  obtained 
through  public  advertisement,  and  made  by  numbers  of  the 
best  mechanics  in  the  city.  The  material  used  is  always  the 
best  of  its  kind,  and  the  labor  is  required  to  be  of  the  first 
class.  All  the  work  undergoes  a  rigid  superintendence,  in 
order  that  the  various  provisions  of  these  contracts  may  be 
fully  carried  out. 


166  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


XVIII. 
LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION 

IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK. 


AN  Act  to  amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  Act,  the  various 
Acts  relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New.  York. 

Passed  July  3,  1851. 

As  amended  by  the  Acts  severally  entitled,  "An  Act  relative  to 
Common  Schools  in  the  City  of  New  York."1 

Passed  June  4,  1853. 

March  31,  1854. 

April  15,  1854. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 
Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

OF  SCHOOL   OFFICERS  AND  THEIR  ELECTION. 

§  1.  There  shall  be  two  Commissioners,  two  Inspectors, 
and  eight  Trustees  of  Common  Schools,  in  each  of  the  wards 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  who  shall  be  known  as  the  School 
Officers  of  the  ward. 

At  every  general  election,  there  shall  be  elected  in  each 
of  the  said  wards,  one  Commissioner,  one  Inspector,  and  two 
Trustees  of  Common  Schools,  who  shall  take  office  on  the  first 
day  of  January  next  succeeding  their  election,  and  hold  the 
same  for  the  following  terms :  the  Commissioner  and  Inspect- 
or for  two  years  each,  and  the  Trustees  for  four  years  each. 

Every  vacancy  in  the  office  of  a  Commissioner,  Inspector, 
or  Trustee  of  Common  Schools,  occurring  more  than  twenty 
days  previous  to  any  general  election,  shall  be  filled  at  tho 

1  For  most  recent  and  important  changes,  see  Act  of  25th  of  Apri1,  1SG4,  on 
page  192. 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  167 

next  general  election  ;  and  every  person  chosen  to  fill  a  va- 
cancy shall  take  office  on  the  first  day  of  January  next  suc- 
ceeding the  election,  and  hold  the  same  for  the  residue  of  the 
term ;  and,  in  every  such  case,  the  person  voted  for  to  fill  a 
vacancy  shall  be  designated  in  the  ballot  by  the  words,  "to 
fill  vacancy,"  written  or  printed  immediately  over  his  name, 
and  shall  also  be  so  designated  in  the  returns  of  the  election ; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  vacancy  in  the  office  of  Trustee 
of  any  ward,  to  be  filled  at  the  same  election,  each  person 
voted  for  to  fill  a  vacancy  shall  be  designated  on  the  ballot 
and  in  the  returns,  by  adding  the  number  of  years  for  which 
he  is  to  serve  to  the  words  "to  fill  vacancy  ;"  so  that  the  des- 
ignation will  read,  "  to  fill  vacancy  of —  years.". 

In  case  in  any  ward  the  number  of  Trustees  in  office  shall 
at  any  time  be  less  than  eight,  the  Board  of  Education  shall 
have  power,  upon  the  nomination  of  the  School  Officers  of 
the  ward,  to  appoint  as  many  Trustees  as  will  make,  including 
the  Trustees  previously  in  office,  eight  Trustees  for  the  ward ; 
but  the  Trustees  so  appointed  shall  cease  to  hold  office  on  the 
first  day  of  January  next  ensuing,  and  their  successors  shall  be 
chosen  at  the  next  general  election,  to  serve  for  such  number 
of  years,  respectively,  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  designate. 

The  Board  of  Education  shall,  at  -least  fifteen  days  previ- 
ous to  every  general  election,  cause  to  be  filed  in  the  office 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  Common  Council,  a  list  of  the  school  offi- 
ces to  be  filled  at  the  next  general  election,  stating  the  names 
of  the  officers  whose  terms  will  expire;  and  also,  in  each  * 
case  of  an  unexpired  term  in  which  a  vacancy  is  to  be  filled, 
stating  the  number  of  years  which  the  person  elected  to  fill 
the  same  will  be  entitled  to  serve. 

The  elections  held  by  virtue  of  this  Act,  shall  be  subject 
to  the  same  laws  and  regulations,  in  all  respects,  as  those 
which  govern  the  general  elections  in  said  city.  The  ballots 
for  School  Officers  shall  be  indorsed  "  Common  Schools,"  and 
deposited  in  a  separate  box  to  be  provided  therefor. 

Every  School  Officer  shall,  before  entering  on  the  duties 
of  his  office,  and  within  fifteen  days  after  the  commencement 
of  the  term  for  which  he  is  elected,  or  from  the  time  of  being 


168  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

notified  of  his  appointment  to  fill  a  vacancy,  take  and  sub- 
scribe before  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State.  And  any  school 
office  to  which  any  person,  who  shall  omit  to  take  the  said 
oath  within  the  time  and  in  the  manner  above  prescribed, 
may  have  been  elected  or  appointed  in  said  city,  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  vacant  from  and  after  the  expiration  of  said  fifteen 
days,  and  the  vacancy  shall  thereupon  be  filled  in  the  manner 
in  which  other  vacancies  in  school  offices  are  filled. 

The  Board  of  Education  shall  be  judges  of  the  election  or 
appointment  and  qualification  of  its  members. 

Every  School  Officer  shall,  at  the  time  of  his  election  or 
appointment,  be  a  resident  of  the  ward  for  which  he  is  elected 
or  appointed ;  and  the  Board  of  School  Officers  of  any  ward 
shall  have  power  to  declare  vacant  the  office  of  any  Commis- 
sioner, Inspector,  or  Trustee  elected  by  the  people,  or  appoint- 
ed by  the  Board  of  Education,  who  shall  have  removed  from 
the  ward  ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  Board  of  School 
Officers  to  consider  the  subject,  and  determine  whether  or  not 
the  seat  of  the  officer  who  shall  have  removed  from  the  ward 
shall  be  declared  vacant. 

OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — ITS  POWERS  AND  DUTIES. 

§'2.  The  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools  shall  consti- 
tute a  Board  of  Education  for  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York.     They  shall  meet  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  Janu- 
*  ary,  in  each  year,  for  the  purpose  of  organization,  and  there- 
after for  the  transaction  of  business  as  often  as  they  may  de- 
termine; they  shall  elect  one  of  their  number  President,  and 
shall  appoint  a  Clerk,  and  as  many  Assistant  Clerks,  and  other 
officers  for  the  transaction  of  the  business  of  the  Board  as  may 
be  necessary,  who  shall  severally  hold  their  offices  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  Board,  and  whose  respective  duties,  powers,  and 
compensation  shall  be  regulated  and  determined  by  the  Board. 
The  Board  of  Education  shall  have  power : 
1.  To  take  and  hold  property,  both  real  and  personal,  de- 
vised or  transferred  to  it  for  the  purposes  of  Public  Education, 
in  the  city  of  New  York. 


LAWS  KELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTEUCTION.  169 

2.  To  appoint  a  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and  one  or 
more  Assistant  Superintendents,  and  also  a  Superintendent 
of  School  Buildings,  whose  respective  duties,  powers,  salaries, 
and  terms  of  office,  except  as  herein  otherwise  provided,  shall 
be  regulated  and  determined  by  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
to  employ,  under  the  Superintendent  of  School  Buildings,  nec- 
essary workmen,  and  provide  necessary  materials  for  repair- 
ing, altering,  and  enlarging  school  or  other  buildings ;  but  this 
provision  shall  not  be  construed  to  compel  the  Trustees  of  any 
ward  to  use  or  employ  such  workmen  or  materials  for  any 
purpose  whatever. 

3.  On  the  nomination  of  the  School  Officers  of  any  ward  to 
fill  vacancies  in  school  offices  which  may  occur  in  such  ward 
between  the  general  elections ;  and  upon  the  presentation  of 
a  majority  of  the  School  Officers  of  any  ward,  to  remove  any 
Inspector  of  Common  Schools  for  such  ward,  who  shall  be 
proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  have 
willfully,  or  without  good  cause,  neglected  to  perform  any  duty 
imposed  upon  him  by  this  act ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
said  Board  to  remove  from  office  any  Commissioner,  Inspect- 
or, or  Trustee,  who  shall  be,  or  become,  directly  or  indirectly, 
interested,  by  way  of  commission  or  otherwise,  in  any  con- 
tract or  undertaking  for  the  furnishing  of  any  supplies  of 
books  or  materials,  or  for  the  performing  of  any  labor  or  work 
for  any  of  the  schools  or  buildings  under  his  charge. 

4.  To  establish  new  schools,  as  hereinafter  provided. 

5.  To  draw  from  the  moneys  which  shall  be  raised  for  the 
purpose  of  Public  Education,  such  sums  as  may  be  required 
for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  necessary  incidental  expenses 
of  the  Board,  and  .such  further  sums  as  may  be  required  for 
the  payment  of  the  salaries  of  such  clerks  and  other  officers 
as  may  be  appointed  by  virtue  of  the  authority  vested  in  the 
Board  by  this  act,  and  of  such  other  expenses  as  may  be  nec- 
essarily incurred  by  the  Board  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions 
of  this  act. 

6.  To  visit  and  examine  the  schools  subject  to  the  provis- 
ions of  this  act. 


170  HISTOEY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

7.  To  make  rules  of  order  and  by-laws  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Board,  its  members  and  committees,  and  general 
regulations  to  secure  proper  economy  and  accountability  in 
the  expenditure  of  the  school  moneys. 

8.  To  continue  the  existing  Free  Academy,  and  organize  a 
similar  institution  for  females  ;  and  if  any  similar  institution  is 
organized  by  the  Board  of  Education,  all  the  provisions  of  this 
act  relative  to  the  Free  Academy,  shall  apply  to  each  and  every 
one  of  the  said  institutions,  now  existing  or  hereafter  establish- 
ed, as  fully,  completely,  and  distinctly  as  they  could  or  would 
if  it  was  the  only  institution  of  the  kind ;  to  distinguish  each 
existing  and  future  institution  by  an  appropriate  title ;  and  to 
purchase,  erect,  or  lease  sites  and  buildings  for  each  and  all 
of  the  said  institutions,  provided  that  no  additional  institution 
shall  be  authorized  or  organized  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
unless  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  members  of  the  said 
Board  shall  vote  in  favor  thereof. 

•  9.  To  use  and  control  the  premises  known  as  the  Hall  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  at  the  corner  of  Grand  and  Elm 
Streets,  to  direct  the  purposes  for  which  the  same  may  be  oc- 
cupied, and  to  make  all  the  repairs,  alterations,  and  additions 
in  and  to  the  same,  which  the  Board  may  deem  advisable,  and 
to  provide  such  additional  sites  and  buildings  as  may  be  nec- 
essary for  the  purposes  of  this  act,  the  title  of  which  shall,  in 
all  cases,  be  vested  in  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonal- 
ty of  the  city  of  New-York. 

10.  To  dispose  of  such   personal  property  used   in  the 
School  or  other  buildings  under  the  charge  of  the  Board,  as 
the  Trustees  or  Committees  having  the  immediate  charge 
thereof  shall  certify  is  no  longer  required  for  use  therein; 
and  all  moneys  realized  by  the  sale  of  any  such  property 
shall  be  paid  into  the  City  Treasury,  for  the  same  purposes 
as  the  moneys  raised  under  the  sixteenth  section  of  this  act. 

11.  And  for  the  purposes  of  this  act,  the  said  Board  shall 
possess  the  powers  and  privileges  of  a. corporation. 

§  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Education  : 

1.  On  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of  November,  in  each 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  171 

year,  to  report  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  said  city  and 
county,  an  estimate  of  the  amount  over  and  above  the  sum 
specified  in  the  fifteenth  section  of  this  act,  which  will  be  re- 
quired during  the  year  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  cur- 
rent annual  expenses  of  public  instruction  in  said  city,  for 
purchasing,  leasing,  and  procuring  sites ;  for  erecting  build- 
ings, and  for  furnishing,  fitting  up,  altering,  enlarging,  and 
repairing  the  buildings  and  premises  under  their  charge  ;  for 
the  support  of  schools  which  shall  have  been  organized  since 
the  last  annual  apportionment  of  the  school  moneys  made  by 
the  Board,  and  of  such  further  sum  or  sums  as  may  be  nec- 
essary for  any  of  the  purposes  authorized  by  this  act;  but 
the  aggregate  amount  so  reported  shall  not  exceed  the  sum 
of  four  dollars  for  each  pupil  who  shall  have  actually  attend- 
ed and  been  taught  the  preceding  year  in  the  schools  entitled 
to  participate  in  the  apportionment. 

2.  To  apportion  all  the  school  moneys  which  shall  have 
been  raised  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  current  annual 
expenses  of  public  instruction,  to  the  schools  entitled  to  par- 
ticipate therein  by  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

3.  To  file  with  the  Chamberlain  of  said  city,  on  or  before 
the  first  Monday  of  April  in  each  year,  a  copy  of  their  ap- 
portionment, stating  the  amount  apportioned  to  the  Schools 
under  the  charge  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  to  the 
Trustees,  Managers,  and  Directors  of  the  several  schools  enu; 
merated  in  this  act. 

4.  To  continue  to  furnish,  through  the  Free  Academy,  the 
benefit  of  education,  gratuitously,  to  persons  who  have  been 
pupils  in  the  Common  Schools  of  the  said  city  and  county, 
for  a  period  of  time  to  be  regulated  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, not  less  than  one  year. 

5.  To  supervise,  manage,  and  govern  said  Free  Academy, 
and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  therefor ;  fix  the 
number  and  compensation  of  teachers  and  others  to  be  em- 
ployed therein;  prescribe  the 'preliminary  examination,  and 
the  terms  and  conditions  on  which  pupils  shall  be  received 
and  instructed  therein  and  discharged  therefrom ;  direct  the 


172  HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

course  of  studies  therein,  and  provide  in  all  things  for  the 
good  government  and  management  of  the  said  Free  Acade- 
my ;  and  purchase  the  books,  apparatus,  stationery,  and 
other  things  necessary  and  expedient  to  enable  the  said  Free 
Academy  to  be  properly  and  successfully  conducted,  and  to 
keep  the  said  building  or  buildings  properly  repaired  and 
furnished.  And  the  Board,  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Faculty  of  the  Free  Academy,  may  grant  the  usual  degrees 
and  diplomas  in  the  Arts,  to  such  persons  as  shall  have  com- 
pleted a  full  course  of  study  in  the  said  Free  Academy. 

6.  To  appoint  annually  a  standing  committee  of  not  less 
than  five  persons  of  their  number,  who  shall,  subject  to  the 
control,  supervision,  and  approbation  of  the  said  Board,  con- 
stitute an  Executive  Committee,  for  the  care,  government, 
and  management  of  the  said  Free  Academy,  under  the  rules 
and  regulations  prescribed  as  aforesaid,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  make  detailed  reports  to  the  said  Board  of  Education, 
and,  among  other  things,  to  recommend  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations which  they  deem  necessary  and  proper  for  the  said 
Academy.     The  Board  of  Education  may,  at  any  regular 
meeting  thereof,  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  of  the  said 
Board,  remove  any  or  all  the  members  of  the  said  committee, 
and  appoint  another  person  or  persons  in  place  of  the  mem- 
ber or  members  of  the  said  committee  so  removed. 

7.  To  make  and  transmit  annually,  on  or  before  the  first 
day  of  February  in  each  year,  to  tbe  Common  Council  of  said 
city,  and  also  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Eegents  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New-York,  a  report  signed  by  the 
President  and  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  dated  on 
the  thirty-first  day  of  December  next  preceding,  which  report 
shall  state  the  names  and  ages  of  all  the  pupils  instructed  in 
such  Free  Academy,  during  the  preceding  year,  and  the  time 
that  each  was  so  instructed,  specifying  which  of  them  have 
completed  a  full  course  of  study  therein,  and  which  have  re- 
ceived degrees,  medals,  and  other  special  testimonials ;  a  par- 
ticular statement  of  the  studies  pursued  by  each  pupil,  since 
the  last  preceding  report,  together  with  the  books  such  student 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  173 

shall  have  studied,  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  if  in  part,  what  por- 
tion ;  an  account  or  estimate  of  the  library,  philosophical  and 
chemical  apparatus,  and  mathematical  or  other  scientific  instru- 
ments belonging  to  such  Academy  ;  the  names  of  the  instruct- 
ors employed  in  said  Academy,  and  the  compensation  paid  to 
each ;  what  amount  of  moneys  the  Board  of  Education  re- 
ceived during  the  year  for  the  purposes  of  such  Academy, 
and  from  what  sources,  specifying  how  much  from  each,  and 
the  particular  manner,  and  the  specific  purposes  for  which 
such  moneys  have  been  expended  ;  and  such  other  informa- 
tion in  relation  to  education  in  said  Academy,  and  the  meas- 
ures of  the  Board  in  the  management  thereof,  as  the  said 
Common  Council  or  the  Eegents  or  the  University  of  the 
State  of  New-York,  may  from  time  to  time  require. 

8.  To  provide  evening  schools  for  those  whose  ages  or 
avocations  are  such  as  to  prevent  their  attending  the  day 
schools  established  by  law,  in  such  of  the  ward  school-houses 
or  other  buildings  used  for  school  purposes,  and  in  such  oth- 
er places  in  said  city  as  they  may  from  time  to  time  deem 
expedient ;  and  also  a  Normal  School  or  schools  for  teachers, 
which  shall  be  attended  by  such  of  the  teachers  in  Common 
Schools  as  the  Board  of  Education  by  general  regulations 
shall  direct,  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  their  situations  as 
teachers,  by  omitting  to  attend,  which  forfeiture  shall  be  de- 
clared by  the  Board  of  Education ;  and  to  appoint  teachers 
and  furnish  all  needful  supplies  for  the  Evening  and  Normal 
Schools. 

9.  To  furnish  all  necessary  supplies,  or  make  regulations 
for  furnishing  such  supplies  for  the  several  schools  under 
their  care ;  but  when  such  supplies  are  furnished  by  the 
Board  of  Education,  they  shall  be  obtained  by  contract,  pro- 
posals for  which  shall  be  advertised  for  the  period  of  at  least 
two  weeks. 

10.  To  make  and  transmit,  between  the  fifteenth  day  of 
January  and  the  first  day  of  February  in  each  year,  to  the 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  to  the  Com- 
mon Council  of  the  city  of  New- York,  a  report  in  writing, 


HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

bearing  date  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  December  next  preced- 
ing, stating  the  whole  number  of  schools  within  their  juris- 
diction, specially  designating  the  schools  for  colored  children ; 
the  schools  or  societies  from  which  reports  shall  have  been 
made  to  the  Board  of  Education,  within  the  time  limited  for 
that  purpose  ;  the  length  of  time  such  schools  shall  have  been 
kept  open ;  the  amount  of  public  money  apportioned  or  ap- 
propriated to  said  school  or  society ;  the  number  taught  in 
each1  school ;  the  whole  amount  of  money  drawn  from  the 
city  Chamberlain  for  the  purposes  of  education  during  the 
year  ending  at  the  date  of  their  report,  distinguishing  the 
amount  received  from  the  general  fund  of  the  State,  and  from 
all  other  and  what  sources;  the  manner  in  which  such  mon- 
eys shall  have  been  expended ;  and  such  other  information 
as  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  may  from 
time  to  time  require,  in  relation  to  Common  School  education 
in  the  city  and  county  of  New-York  ;  and  the  report  which 
the  Board  of  Education  is  hereby  required'  to  make,  shall  be 
held  and  taken  to  be  a  full  compliance  with  every  law  requir- 
ing a  report  from  the  said  Board,  or  any  officer  of  the  city 
and  county  of  New-York,  except  the  City  Superintendent, 
relative  to  the  schools  in  the  said  city,  or  any  matters  connect- 
ed therewith. 

§  4.  If  the  Board  of  Education  shall  neglect  to  make  such 
Annual  Keport,  within  the  time  limited,  the  share  of  school 
moneys  apportioned  to  the  city  and  county  of  New- York 
may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  be  withheld  until  a  suitable  report  shall  have 
been  rendered. 

§  5.  The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  shall  have  charge 
of  the  rooms,  books,  papers,  and  documents  of  the  Board,  and 
shall,  in  addition  to  his  duties  as  Secretary  of  the  Board,  per- 
form such  other  clerical  duties  as  may  be  required  by  its 
members  or  committees. 

§  6.  All  schools  which  have  been  organized  under  the  act 
entitled  "An  act  to  extend  to  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York,  the  provisions  of  the  general  act  in  relation  to  Common 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  175 

Schools,"  passed  April  11, 1842,  and  the  acts  amending  the 
same,  or  organized  or  adopted  under  this  act,  shall  be  Com- 
mon Schools  called  "  Ward  Schools,"  or  "  Ward  Primaries," 
and  each  class  shall  be  numbered  consecutively,  according  to 
the  time  of  their  organization  or  adoption,  and  all  such 
schools  shall  be  under  the  supervision  and  government  of 
the  Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and  Trustees  of  the  ward  in 
which  they  are  located. 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  SCHOOL  OFFICERS. 

§  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  School  Officers,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  them  in  any  ward : 

1.  To  certify  to  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York,  whenever,  in  their  opinion,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  organize  one  or  more  additional  schools  in  said  ward, 
with  the  facts  and  circumstances  showing  such  necessity,  to- 
gether with  the  character  of  the  school  buildings  required, 
and  the  number  and  class  of  scholars  who  will  probably  at- 
tend such  schools,  if  organized,  and  to  organize  such  schools 
as  hereinafter  provided. 

2.  To  provide  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the 
Board  of  Education  may  establish,  the  necessary  books,  sta- 
tionery, and  other  essentials  necessary  to  organize  and  con- 
duct any  school  in  their  ward. 

3.  To  examine,  ascertain,  and  report  to  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, and  as  frequently  as  may  be,  whether  the  provisions 
of  this  act  in  relation  to  the  teaching  of  sectarian  doctrines, 
or  the  use  of  sectarian  books  shall  have  been  violated.    And, 

4.  To  notify  the  Board  of  Education  of  any  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  any  school  officer  of  their  respective  wards,  and  to 
make  nominations  as  in  this  act  provided. 

POWERS  ^.ND  DUTIES  OF  COMMISSIONERS. 

§  8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioners  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  several  wards : 

1.  To  attend  all  the  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Education ; 
and  if  any  Commissioner  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  attend  any 


176  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

three  successive  stated  meetings  of  the  Board,  after  having 
been  personally  notified  to  attend,  and  if  no  satisfactory  cause 
of  his  non-attendance  be  shown,  the  Board  may  declare  his 
office  vacant. 

2.  To  transmit  to  the  Board  of  Education  all  reports  made 
to  them  by  the  Trustees  and  Inspectors  of  their  respective 

wards. 

_ 

3.  To  visit  and  examine  all  the  schools  entitled  to  partici- 
pate in  the  apportionment. 

4.  They  shall  be  ex  officio  members  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees in  their  respective  wards. 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  INSPECTORS. 

§  9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Inspectors  of  Common 
Schools : 

1.  To  inspect  and  examine  each  of  the  schools  in  their  re- 
spective ward^  at  least  twice  in  each  year,  and  oftener  if  nec- 
essary; and  on  or  before  the   fifteenth  day  of  October  in 
each  year,  to  make  and  transmit  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
and  to  the  Trustees  of  the  ward,  a  report  in  writing,  in  which 
they  shall  set  forth  the  condition  of  the  several  school  build- 
ings in  use  in  their  ward,  and  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what 
repairs,  alterations,  or  modifications  of  those  buildings  seem 
to  them  necessary. 

2.  "Whether  they  are  kept  clean  an<J  in  good  order. 

3.  In  what  manner  they  are  heated  and  ventilated,  and 
how  effectual  the  means  used  are  in  producing  the  result  de- 
sired. 

_—  4.  The  studies  pursued. 

5.  The  progress  of  the  classes  in  their  different  studies. 

6.  The  punctuality  of  attendance  of  the  scholars   and 
teachers. 

7.  The  order,  attention,  and  general  appearance  of  the 
school. 

8.  The  length  of  each  morning  and  evening  session,  and 
the  number  and  length  of  recesses  allowed. 

9.  The  number  and  qualifications  of  the  teachers,  and  such 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  177 

other  facts  as  in  their  opinion  are  important  to  insure  the  dis- 
cipline or  extend  the  usefulness  of  the  schools. 

10.  In  conjunction  with  the  City  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  to  license  teachers  for  their  respective  wards, 
and, 

11.  To  examine  and  audit  all  accounts  when  duly  certified 
by  the  Trustees  to  be  correct. 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  TRUSTEES. 

§  10.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  for  each  ward, 
and  they  shall  have  the  power : 

1.  To  have  the  safe  keeping  of  all  the  premises  and  other 
property  used  for  or  belonging  to  the  Ward  Schools  and  the 
Ward  Primaries  in  their  respective  wards. 

2.  Under  such  general  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Board 
of  Education  may  adopt,  to  contract  with  and  employ  teach- 
ers and  janitors  in  the  said  schools,  and  conduct  and  manage 
the  same,  and  furnish  all  needful  supplies  therefor,  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  the  third  section  of  this  act ;  and  make  all 
needful  repairs,  alterations,  and  additions,  in  and  to  the  school 
premises ;  provided  that  if  the  cost  of  any  such  repairs,  alter- 
ation, or  addition,  shall  exceed  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, the  same  shall  be  made  by  contract,  pursuant  to  the 
twenty-fifth  section  of  this  act. 

3.  To  procure,  as  may  be  necessary,  blank-books,  in  one 
of  which  a  statement  of  the  amounts  of  all  moneys  received 
and  paid  by  the  Trustees,  or  otherwise,  for  or  on  account  of 
each  of  the  schools  conducted  by  them,  and  of  all  movable 
property  belonging  to  each  school,  shall  be  entered  at  large 
and  signed  by  such  Trustees ;  and,  in  one  book,  minutes  of 
their  meetings  shall  be  kept ;  and  in  other  books,  the  prin- 
cipal teacher  of  each  school  and  department  shall  enter  the 
names,  ages,  and  residences,  of  the   scholars  attending  the 
school,  the  name  of  a  parent  or  guardian  of  each  scholar,  and 
the  days  on  which  the  scholars  shall  have  respectively  attend- 
ed, and  the  aggregate  attendance  of  each  scholar  during  the 
year ;  also  the  days  on  which  each  school  shall  have  been 

M 


178  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

visited  by  the  City  and  Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools, 
and  the  School  Officers  of  the  ward,  and  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  or  any  of  them,  which  entries  shall  be 
verified  by  the  oath  or  affirmation  of  the  principal  teacher  in 
such  school  or  department.  The  said  books  shall  be  pre- 
served by  the  Trustees  as  the  property  of  the  school,  and 
shall  be  delivered  to  their  successors. 

4.  To  make,  at  least  five  days  before  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary in  every  year,  or  such  other  day  as  may  be  designated 
by  the  Board  of  Education,  in  the  case  of  a  school  kept  open 
after  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  December,  and  transmit  to  the 
Board  of  Education,  a  report  in  writing,  dated  the  thirty -first 
day  of  December,  which  shall  be  signed  and  certified  by  a 
majority  of  the  Trustees,  and  which  report  shall  state  the 
whole  number  of  schools  within  their  jurisdiction,  especially 
designating  the  schools  for  colored  children ;  the  length  of 
time  each  school  shall  have  been  kept  open ;  the  whole  num- 
ber of  scholars  over  four  and  under  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
who  shall  have  been  taught,  free  of  expense  to  such  scholars, 
in  their  schools  during  the  year  ending  with  the  date  of  the 
report,  which  number  shall  be  ascertained  by  adding  to  the 
number  of  children  on  register  at  the  commencement  of  each 
year,  the  number  admitted  during  that  year,  which  shall  be 
considered  the  total  for  that  year :  the  average  number  that 
has  actually  attended  such  schools  during  the  year,  to  be  as- 
certained by  the  teacher's  keeping  an  exact  account  of  the 
number  of  scholars  present  every  school  time  or  half-day, 
which  being  added  together,  and  divided  by  four  hundred 
and  sixty,  or  if  less  than  a  year,  by  the  number  of  school 
sessions,  shall  be  considered  the  average  of  attending  scholars, 
which  average  shall  be  sworn  or  affirmed  to  by  the  principal 
teacher  of  the  school ;  and  a  particular  account  of  the  state  of 
the  schools,  and  of  the  property  and  affairs  of  each  school  un- 
der their  care ;  and  the  titles  of  all  books  used,  with  such 
other  information  as  the  Board  of  Education  shall  require ; 
and  for  the  purposes  of  this  act,  each  department  shall,  when- 
ever practicable, l>e  considered  as  a  separate  school. 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION".  179 

5.  To  hold  as  a  corporation  all  personal  property  vested  in 
or  transferred  to  them  for  school  purposes  in  their  respective 
wards. 

7.  To  meet  statedly  at  times  to  be  by  them  appointed,  and 
to  declare  vacant,  by  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  ward,  the  seat  of  any  person  elected  or  appointed  as  a 
Trustee,  who  shall  refuse  or  neglect,  without  satisfactory  cause 
shown  by  him  to  the  said  Trustees,  to  attend  any  three  suc- 
cessive stated  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  after  having  been 
previously  notified  to  attend ;  and  to  notify  the  Clerk  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  at  least  twenty  days  previous  to  any 
general  election,  of  any  vacancy  that  will  exist  in  the  school 
offices  of  said  ward,  at  the  expiration  of  their  present  year, 
with  the  cause  or  reason  of  such  vacancy  or  vacancies. 

OF   THE    CITY  SUPERINTENDENT. 

§  11.  The  City  and  Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 
shall  take  and  subscribe  before  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Ed- 
ucation, the  oath  of  office  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of 
this  State;  shall  each  hold  office  for  the  term  of  two  years, 
and  until  his  successor  is  appointed,  subject  to  removal  by 
the  Board,  on  complaint,  for  cause  stated ;  shall  respectively 
receive  such  compensation  as  the  Board  of  Education  may 
designate,  which  shall  not  be  changed  during  the  term  of 
office  of  any  incumbent ;  and  shall  be  subject  to  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  establish.  It 
shall  be  specially  the  duty  of  the  City  Superintendent : 

1.  To  visit  every  school  under  the  charge  of  the  Board  of 
Education  as  often  as  once  in  each  year ;  to  inquire  into  all 
matters  relating  to  the  government,  course  of  instruction, 
books,  studies,  discipline,  and  conduct  of  such  schools,  and 
the  condition  of  the  school-houses,  and  the  schools  generally, 
and  to  advise  and  to  counsel  with  the  Trustees  in  relation  to 
their  duties,  the  proper  studies,  discipline  and  conduct  of  the 
schools,  the  course  of  instruction  to  be  pursued,  and  the  books 
of  elementary  instruction  to  be  used  therein  ;  and  to  examine, 
ascertain,  and  report  to  the  Board  of  Education,  whether  the 


180  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

provisions  of  the  Act  in  relation  to  religious  sectarian  teach- 
ing and  books  have  been  violated  in  any  of  the  schools  of  the 
different  wards  of  the  city ;  and  to  make  a  monthly  report  to 
the  Board  of  Education,  stating  which  of  the  schools  have 
been  visited  by  him,  and  adding  such  comments  in  respect  to 
the  matters  above  specified,  as  he  may  consider  necessary  and 
advisable ;  and  to  transmit  to  the  respective  Boards  of  Ward 
Trustees  copies  of  so  much  of  such  reports  as  relates  to  schools 
under  their  management. 

2.  Under  such  general  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Board 
of  Education  may  establish,  to  examine  into  the  qualifications 
of  persons  proposed  as  teachers  in  any  of  the  schools  under 
the  charge  of  the  Board,  and  to  grant  certificates,  in  the  forms 
prescribed  by  the  Board,  to  such  of  the  persons  so  examined 
as  may  be  entitled  thereto ;  which  certificates  shall  specify  in 
which  class  of  schools,  and  in  what  capacity,  the  persons  to 
whom  any  certificate  is  granted  are  qualified  to  teach,  and 
shall  be  evidence  in  respect  thereto ;  to  re-examine,  whenever 
the  City  Superintendent  may  deem  necessary,  any  of  the 
teachers  employed  in  the  schools  under  the  charge  of  the 
Board ;  and  to  annul,  for  any  cause  satisfactory  to  the  City 
Superintendent,  any  license  or  certificate  of  qualification,  to 
teach  in  the  schools  of  the  City  of  New  York ;  but  such  ac- 
tion shall  not  be  taken  by  him  until  he  has  given  at  least  ten 
days'  previous  notice  to  the  teacher  and  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
ward  in  which  he  is  employed,  nor  until  the  teacher  has  been 
allowed  a  hearing ;  nor  shall  such  action  disqualify  the  teach- 
er, until  a  note  of  the  decision  of  the  City  Superintendent, 
stating  the  name  of  the  teacher  and  the  time  when  the  license 
or  certificate  was  annulled,  has  been  signed  by  the  City  Su- 
perintendent, filed  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  and  served  upon  the  teacher :  Provided,  however, 
that  every  such  teacher  shall  have  a  right  of  appeal  to  the 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and,  in  case  such 
appeal  is  taken  by  the  teacher  within  ten  days  after  the 
note  of  the  decision  is  served  upon  him,  he  shall  not  be  dis- 
qualified until  the  action  of  the  City  Superintendent  has 


LAWS  EEL  ATI  VE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  181 

been  confirmed  by  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction. 

3.  Generally,  by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  under  the  reg- 
ulations of  the  Board  of  Education  in  respect  thereto,  to  pro- 
mote sound  education,  elevate  the  character  and  qualifications 
of  teachers,  improve  the  means  of  instruction,  and  advance 
the  interests  of  the  schools  committed  to  his  charge. 

§  12.  The  City  Superintendent  shall  be  subject  to  such 
general  rules  and  regulations  as  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  may  prescribe  ;  and  appeals  from  his  acts 
and  decisions  may  be  made  to  the  Superintendent  in  the  same 
manner,  and  with  like  effect,  as  in  cases  now  provided  by 
law ;  and  he  shall  make  annually,  to  the  State  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction,  at  such  times  as  shall  be  appointed 
by  him,  a  report  in  writing,  containing  the  whole  number  of 
schools  in  the  city  and  county,  distinguishing  the  schools 
from  which  the  necessary  reports  have  been  made  to  the 
Board  of  Education  by  the  Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and 
Trustees  of  Common  Schools,  and  containing  a  certified  copy 
of  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Clerk  of 
the  city  and  county,  with  such  additional  information  as  the 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  may  require, 

§  13.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Education,  by 
general  rules  and  regulations,  to  provide  a  proper  classifica- 
tion of  studies,  scholars,  and  salaries,  in  such  manner  that,  as 
near  as  practicable,  the  system  of  instruction  pursued  in  the 
Common  Schools,  and  the  salaries  paid  to  teachers,  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  city. 

OF  THE  SUPPORT  OF  SCHOOLS. 

§  14.  Whenever  the  Clerk  of  the  city  and  county  shall  re- 
ceive notice  from  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction of  the  amount  of  moneys  apportioned  to  the  County 
of  New  York  for  the  support  and  encouragement  of  Common 
Schools  therein,  he  shall  immediately  lay  the  same  before  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  of  said  county ;  and  the  Chamberlain  of 
the  said  city  shall  apply  for  and  receive  the  school  moneys 


182  HISTORY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

apportioned  to  the  said  county,  as  soon  as  the  same  become 
payable,  and  place  the  same  in  the  city  treasury,  for  the  same 
purposes  as  the  moneys  raised  under  the  sixteenth  section  of 
this  act. 

§  15.  The  said  Board  of  Supervisors  shall  annually  raise 
and  collect,  by  tax  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  city  and 
county,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  the  sum  specified  in  such 
notice,  at  the  time  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  contingent 
charges  of  the  said  city  and  county  are  levied  and  collected ; 
also,  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  one-twentieth  of  one  per  cent. 
of  the  value  of  the  real  and  personal  property  in  the  said 
city,  liable  to  be  assessed  thereon,  and  pay  the  same  into  the 
City  Treasury,  to  be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  said  city ;  and  the  Board  of  Education  shall 
apportion  the  money  so  raised  to  each  of  the  schools  hereafter 
provided  for  by  this  act,  except  the  Free  Academy  and  the 
Evening  Schools,  according  to  the  number  of  children  over 
four  and  under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who  were  actual  res- 
idents of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  at  the  time  of 
their  attendance  on  such  schools,  without  charge,  the  preced- 
ing year;  and  the  average  shall  be  ascertained  by  adding  to- 
gether the  number  of  such  children  present  at  each  morning 
and  afternoon  session  of  not  less  than  three  hours,  and  di- 
viding the  sum  by  four  hundred  and  sixty ;  and  if  any  school 
shall  have  been  organized  since  the  last  annual  apportion- 
ment, the  average  shall  be  ascertained  by  dividing  by  a  num- 
ber corresponding  to  the  actual  number  of  morning  and  even- 
ing sessions  of  not  less  than  three  hours  each,  held  since  the 
organization  of  such  schools ;  and  the  sum  apportioned  to 
any  schools,  other  than  the  Ward  Schools,  shall  be  paid  to 
the  Trustees,  Managers,  or  Directors  of  such  schools  respect- 
ively, by  drafts  on  the  City  Chamberlain,  to  be  signed  by  the 
President  and  Clerk  of  said  Board,  and  made  payable  to  the 
order  of  the  treasurers  of  said  Trustees,  Managers,  or  Directors. 

§  16.  Said  Board  of  Supervisors  shall  also  raise  and  collect 
at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  manner,  such  additional 
sum  or  sums  as  the  Board  of  Education,  in  pursuance  of  the 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  183 

provisions  of  the  first  subdivision  of  the  third  section  of  this 
Act,  shall  have  reported  to  be  necessary  for  the  purposes 
therein  mentioned.  Such  moneys  shall  be  paid  into  the  city 
treasury,  and  shall,  together  with  the  amounts  apportioned  to 
the  schools  under  the  charge  of  the  Board  of  Education,  be 
paid  by  the  Chamberlain  of  the  said  city  upon  the  drafts 
drawn  on  him  by  the  Board  of  Education,  signed  by  the 
President,  and  countersigned  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Board,  and 
by  the  Commissioners,  or  one  of  them,  of  the  ward  for  which 
the  money  is  to  be  paid,  except  such  sums  as  shall  be  drawn 
for  purposes  other  than  the  expenses  of  Ward  Schools,  which 
shall  be  paid  by  said  Chamberlain  upon  drafts  drawn  on  him 
by  said  Board,  signed  by  the  President  and  Clerk,  and  coun- 
tersigned by  the  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  said 
Board,  and  all  the  drafts  shall  be  made  payable  to  the  person 
or  persons  entitled  to  receive  the  same,  except  that  the  pay- 
ment of  wages  and  salaries  may  be  made  by  pay-rolls,  upon 
which  each  person  shall  separately  receipt  for  the  amount 
paid  to  such  person ;  and  in  every  case  of  payment  by  a 
pay-roll,  the  draft  for  the  aggregate  amount  of  wages  or  sala- 
ries included  therein,  shall  be  made  payable  to  the  Superin- 
tendent, Principal  Teacher,  or  other  officer  designated  for  the 
purpose  by  the  By -Laws  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

§  17.  If  any  of  the  said  newly -organized  Ward  Schools,  by 
reason  of  peculiar  circumstances,  shall  be  equitably  entitled 
to  a  larger  sum  than  they  will  receive  under  an  apportion- 
ment made  as  aforesaid,  then  the  Board  of  Education  shall  be 
authorized,  and  they  are  hereby  required,  to  make  to  such 
schools  such  further  allowance  out  of  the  school  moneys  as 
they,  the  Board  of  Education,  shall  deem  just  and  proper. 

§  18.  No  school  shall  be  entitled  to,  or  receive  any  portion 
of  the  school  moneys,  in  which  the  religious  doctrines  or 
tenets  of  any  particular  Christian  or  other  religious  sect  shall 
be  taught,  inculcated,  or  practiced,  or  in  which  any  book  or 
books,  containing  compositions  favorable  or  prejudicial  to  the 
particular  doctrines  or  tenets  of  any  particular  Christian  or 
other  religious  sect,  or  which  shall  teach  the  doctrines  or  ten- 


184  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

ets  of  any  other  religious  sect,  or  which  shall  refuse  to  per- 
mit the  visits  and  examinations  provided  for  in  this  Act, 
But  nothing  herein  contained  shall  authorize  the  Board  of 
Education  to  exclude  the  Holy  Scriptures  without  note  or 
comment,  or  any  selections  therefrom,  from  any  of  the  schools 
provided  for  by  this  Act;  but  it  shall  not  be  competent  for 
the  said  Board  of  Education  to  decide  what  version,  if  any,  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment,  shall  be  used 
in  any  of  the  schools :  Provided,  that  nothing  herein  contain- 
ed shall  be  so  construed  as  to  violate  the  rights  of  conscience 
as  secured  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State  and  of  the  United 
States. 

§  19.  If  the  school  moneys  apportioned  to  the  Common 
Schools,  agreeably  to  the  previous  section  of  this  Act,  shall 
exceed  the  necessary  and  legal  expenses  of  either  of  such 
schools,  the  Board  of  Education  shall  authorize  the  payment 
only  of  such  sum  or  sums  as  shall  be  sufficient  to  provide  for 
such  expenses ;  and  any  deficiency  in  the  sums  apportioned  to 
meet  the  necessary  and  legal  expenses  of  public  education  in 
the  said  schools,  shall  be  supplied  by  the  Common  Council 
of  the  said  city,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and  directed 
to  raise  by  loan,  in  anticipation  of  the  annual  tax,  such  sum 
or  sums  as  shall  be  necessary  to  meet  such  deficiency.  And 
the  Board  of  Education  shall  in  all  cases  certify  to  the  Com- 
mon Council  the  cause  of  such  deficiency,  and  that  the  same- 
was  unavoidable ;  and  unless  such  certificate  shall  be  made, 
the  said  Common  Council  may  refuse  to  raise  the  sum  re- 
quired to  meet  such  deficiency. 

§  20.  The  Board  of  Education  shall  require  from  the  Ex- 
ecutive  Committees  conducting  schools  by  appointment  of 
the  Board,  and  from  the  Trustees,  Managers,  or  Directors  of 
the  Corporate  Schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  appo^ 
tionment  of  school  moneys,  a  report  in  all  respects  similar  to 
that  required  from  the  Trustees  of  each.,  ward  by  the  tenth 
section  of  this  Act.  And  in  making  the  apportionment 
among  the  several  schools,  no  share  shall  be  allotted  to  any 
school  or  society  from  which  no  sufficient  annual  report  shall 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  185 

have  been  received  for  the  year  ending  on  the  last  day  of 
December  immediately  preceding  the  apportionment. 

§  21.  Whenever  an  apportionment  of  the  public  money 
shall  not  be  made  to  any  school,  in  consequence  of  any  acci- 
dental omission  to  make  any  report  required  by  law,  or  to 
comply  with  any  other  regulation  or  provision  of  law,  the 
Board  of  Education  may,  in  its  discretion,  direct  an  appor- 
tionment to  be  made  to  such  school,  according  to  the  equita- 
ble circumstances  of  the  case,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  public 
money  on  hand,  or,  if  the  same  shall  have  been  distributed, 
out  of  the  public  money  to  be  received  in  a  succeeding  year. 

OF  THE  SCHOOLS  ENTITLED  TO  PARTICIPATE  IN  THE  APPOR- 
TIONMENT. 

§  22.  The  New  York  Orphan  Asylum  School,  the  Eoman 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  School,  the  schools  of  the  two 
Half-orphan  Asylums,  the  school  of  the  Mechanics'  Society, 
the  school  of  the  Society  for  the  Keformation  of  Juvenile 
Delinquents  in  the  City  of  New  York,  the  Hamilton  Free 
School,  the  school  for  the  Leake  and  Watts'  Orphan-house, 
the  school  connected  with  the  Almshouse  of  the  said  city, 
the  school  of  the  Association  for  the  Benefit  of  Colored  Or- 
phans, the  schools  of  the  American  Female  Guardian  Socie- 
ty, the  schools  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Educa- 
tion among  Colored  Children,  the  schools  organized  under 
the  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  extend  to  the  City  and  County 
of  New  York  the  provisions  of  the  general  Act  in  relation  to 
Common  Schools,"  passed  April  11, 1842,  or  an  Act  to  amend 
the  same,  passed  April  18, 1843,  or  an  Act  entitled  "  An  Act 
more  effectually  to  provide  for  Common  School  Education 
in  the  City  and  County  of  New  York,"  passed  May  7,  1844, 
or  any  of  the  Acts  amending  the  same,  and  including  such 
Normal  Schools  for  the  education  of  Teachers  as  the  Board 
of  Education  may  organize,  and  the  Normal  School  of  the 
Public  School  Society  for  the  education  of  Teachers,  and  such 
schools  as  may  be  organized  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act, 
shall  be  subject  to  the  general  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Ed- 


186  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


ucation,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  apportion- 
ment of  the  school  moneys  as  provided  for  by  this  Act,  but 
they  shall  be  under  the  immediate  direction  of  their  respec- 
tive Trustees,  Managers,  and  Directors,  as  herein  provided. 

OF  NEW  SCHOOLS. 

§  23.  Whenever  a  majority  of  the  School  Officers  of  any 
ward  shall  certify  in  writing  to  the  Board  of  Education,  that 
it  is  necessary  to  establish  a  school  in  said  ward,  with  the 
facts  and  circumstances  showing  such  necessity,  together  with 
the  number  and  class  of  scholars  who  will  probably  attend 
such  school,  if  established,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  without  delay,  to  investigate  the  subject,  and 
to  determine  the  expediency  of  establishing  such  school  in 
such  ward  applying  for  the  same.  Should  the  ward  officers, 
or  any  of  them,  deem  themselves  aggrieved  by  such  decision, 
they  may  appeal  to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction, who  shall  decide  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  school,  and  his  decision,  if  adverse  to  the 
appellants,  shall  be  binding  for  the  term  of  one  year. 

§  24.  Upon  a  decision  favorable  to  the  establishment  of  a 
school  or  schools  in  any  of  the  wards  of  said  city,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  School  Officers  of  said  ward  to  proceed  to  or- 
ganize one  or  more  schools,  such  as  may  be  authorized  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  procure  a  school-house,  by  pur- 
chasing or  hiring  the  same,  or  by  procuring  a  site  and  erect- 
ing a  building  thereon,  according  to  plans  and  specifications, 
and  contracts  which  shall  have  been  duly  filed  with  and  ap- 
proved by  the  Board  of  Education ;  the  erection  of  which 
said  building,  and  the  fitting  up  thereof,  and  the  fitting  up 
of  any  hired  building,  shall  be  done  by  contract,  proposals 
for  which  shall  be  advertised  for  two  weeks  previous  to  de- 
ciding upon  estimates  thereon,  unless  such  fitting  up  shall 
not  exceed  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars ;  and  the  expense 
of  establishing  and  organizing  any  school,  as  above-mention- 
ed, shall  be  levied  and  raised  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of 
this  Act. 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  187 

§  25.  The  title  to  all  school  property,  real  and  personal, 
purchased  with  any  moneys  derived  from  the  distribution  or 
apportionment  of  the  school  moneys,  or  raised  by  taxation  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  shall  be  vested  in  the  Mayor,  Alder- 
men and  Commonalty  of  said  City,  but  shall  be  under  the 
care  and  control  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  purposes 
of  public  education ;  and  all  suits  in  relation  to  the  same  shall 
be  brought  in  the  name  of  said  Board,  and  no  contract  or 
contracts  shall  be  made  by  the  School  Officers  of  any  ward 
for  the  purchase  of  any  site,  without  the  consent  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  or  for  the  erection,  or  fitting  up,  or  repairing  of 
any  building,  when  such  repairs  shall  exceed  in  amount  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  dollars,  as  authorized  in  this  Act,  until  a 
statement  in  writing  of  the  amount  required  for  that  purpose 
shall  have  been  presented  to  the  Board  of  Education  by  said 
School  Officers,  and  together  with  a  copy  of  the  working  draw- 
ings, plans,  and  specifications  of  the  work  to  be  done,  pursu- 
ant to  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  shall  have  been  duly  filed 
and  approved  of  as  herein  required,  and  an  appropriation 
shall  have  been  made  by  the  Board  of  Education  therefor. 

§  26.  The  Trustees,  Managers,  and  Directors  of  any  of  the 
Corporate  Schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  apportion- 
ment of  the  school  moneys,  may  at  any  time  convey  their 
school-houses  and  sites  to  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  transfer  any  of  their  schools  to  the  Board  of  Edu- 
. cation,  on  the  terms  and  in  the  manner  to  be  agreed  upon 
and  prescribed  by  the  Board  of  Education,  so  as  either  to 
merge  the  said  schools  in  the  Ward  Schools  or  adopt  them 
as  Ward  Schools ;  and  the  same  shall  then  be  Ward  Schools, 
subject  to  all  the  rules,  duties,  and  liabilities,  and  enjoy  the 
same  rights,  as  if  they  had  been  originally  established  as  Ward 
Schools. 

OF  THE  DISCONTINUANCE  OF  SCHOOLS. 

§  27.  Whenever,  owing  to  any  nuisance  or  other  circum- 
stances in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  any  school,  or  to  the 
small  attendance  of  scholars  therein,  or  other  sufficient  rea- 


188  HISTOKY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

son,  it  shall  appear  to  the  Board  of  Education  necessary  and 
proper  to  discontinue  such  school  in  any  of  the  wards  of  this 
city,  the  said  Board  shall  give  notice  to  the  Trustees  of  said 
school  of  its  intention  to  consider  the  propriety  of  such  dis- 
continuance ;  and  in  thirty  days  after  such  notice,  may  pro- 
ceed to  investigate  the  matterj  and  if  a  majority  of  the  School 
Officers  of  the  ward  shall  consent  to  the  same,  and  if  the 
said  Board  shall  determine  by  a  vote  of  a  majority  of  all  the 
members  thereof  that  it  is  proper  to  close  the  same,  it  shall 
'  be  the  duty  of  said  Board  to  withhold  all  moneys  which  may 
have  been  apportioned  or  appropriated  for  the  support  of  said 
school,  and  the  said  school  shall  not  thereafter  participate  in 
any  subsequent  apportionment  of  the  school  moneys.  So 
soon  as  the  same  shall  take  effect,  the  Comptroller  of  the  city 
shall  be  notified  thereof  by  the  said  Board,  and  the  said 
school-house  and  site  may  thereupon  be  used  or  disposed  of, 
as  a  part  of  the  general  property  of  the  city. 

MISCELLANEOUS  PEOVISIONS. 

§  28.  The  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New  York  are 
hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  raise  by  loan,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  taxes,  when  necessary,  all  moneys  required  for 
erecting,  purchasing,  or  leasing  school-houses,  and  procuring 
sites  therefor,  and  the  fitting  up  and  furnishing  thereof,  and 
for  alterations  in,  or  additions  to,  the  present  school  build- 
ings, or  required  for  any  other  of  the  purposes  authorized  by 
this  Act. 

§  29.  All  expenses  incurred  for  the  support  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  respective  wards  shall  be  certified  by  the  Trus- 
tees of  Common  Schools  in  such  ward,  or  a  majority  of  them, 
and  delivered  to  the  Inspectors  of  said  ward ;  and  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  said  Inspectors  to  examine  and  audit  the  same, 
and  upon  said  Inspectors  being  satisfied  of  their  correctness, 
to  certify  the  same  to  the  Board  of  Education.  All  bills 
audited  and  paid  shall  be  filed  with  the  Board  of  Education. 

§  30.  No  compensation  shall  be  allowed  to  the  Commis- 
sioners, Inspectors,  or  Trustees  of  Common  Schools  for  any 


LAWS  KELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  189 

services  performed  by  them,  but  the  Commissioners  and  In- 
spectors shall  receive  their  actual  and  reasonable  expenses 
while  attending  to  the  duties  of  their  office,  to  be  audited  and 
allowed  by  the  Board  of  Education. 

§  31.  Every  School  Officer  who  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to 
render  an  account,-  or  to  pay  over  any  balance  in  his  hands, 
at  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  shall,  for  each  offense, 
forfeit  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars,  which  sum,  together  with  said 
unpaid  balance,  shall  be  sued  for  and  collected  by  the  Board 
of  Supervisors,  who  shall  prosecute  without  delay  for  the  re- 
covery of  such  forfeiture,  together  with  the  unpaid  balance  ; 
and  in  case  of  the  death  of  such  School  Officer,  suit  may  be 
brought  against  his  representatives,  and  all  moneys  recover- 
ed, after  deducting  expenses,  shall  be  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  Board  of  Education. 

§  32.  Every  person  in  the  employ  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, and  every  School  Officer,  and  every  officer  or  teacher  of 
a  school  or  society,  who  shall  willfully  sign  a  false  report 
to  the  Board  of  Education,  shall,  for  each  offense,  forfeit  the 
sum  of  twenty -five  dollars,  and  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
misdemeanor;  and  every  such  person  or  officer,  who  shall 
willfully  misapply  any  of  the  public  funds  committed  to  his 
care,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  embezzlement. 

§  33.  The  following  shall  be  substantially  the  form  of  oath 
or  affirmation  to  be  made  by  the  Teacher : 

"A.  B.,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  Teacher  of 
No.  department,  being  duly  sworn  or  affirmed,  declares 

and  says,  that  to  the  best  of  (his  or  her)  knowledge  and  be- 
lief, the  average  number  of  children,  actual  residents  of  the 
city  and  county  of  New  York,  at  the  time  of  attending  said 
school,  between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty-one  years,  who 
attended  said  school  or  department,  each  school-time  or  half- 
day,  from  the  day  of  to  the  first  day  of  Janua- 
ry, ,  was  ,  said  average  having  been  obtain- 
ed by  adding  together  the  number  of  scholars  present  each 
school-time  or  half-day,  and  dividing  the  total  by  four  hundred 
and  sixty,  agreeably  to  the  fifteenth  section  of  this  Act." 


190  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

§  3-i,  In  any  suit  which  shall  hereafter  be  commenced 
against  the  Commissioners  or  Trustees  of  Common  Schools 
for  any  act  performed  by  virtue  of  or  under  color  of  their  of- 
fices, or  for  any  refusal  or  omission  to  perform  any  duty  en- 
joined by  law,  and  which  might  have  been  the  subject  of  an 
appeal  to  the  Superintendent,  no  costs  shall  be  allowed  to  the 
plaintiff  in  cases  where  the  court  shall  certify  it  appeared,  on 
the  trial  of  the  cause,  that  the  defendants  acted  in  good  faith. 
But  this  provision  shall  not  extend  to  suits  for  penalties,  nor 
to  suits  or  proceedings  to  enforce  the  decisions  of  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

§  35.  All  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and  twenty  - 
one,  residing  in  the  city  and  county,  shall  be  entitled  to  at- 
tend any  of  the  Common  Schools  therein ;  and  the  parents, 
guardians,  or  other  persons  having  the  custody  or  care  of  such 
children,  shall  not  be  liable  to  any  tax,  assessment,  or  imposi- 
tion, for  the  tuition  of  any  children,  other  than  is  hereinbefore 
provided. 

§  36.  The  Free  Academy  in  the  City  of  New  York  shall 
be  entitled  to  participate  in  the  distribution  of  the  income  of 
the  Literature  a'nd  other  funds,  in  the  same  manner  and  upon 
the  same  conditions  as  the  other  Academies  of  the  State ;  and 
the  Eegents  -of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York  shall 
pay  annually  to  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  City  and  Coun- 
ty of  New  York,  the  distributive  share  of  the  said  funds  to 
which  the  said  Free  Academy  shall  by  law  be  entitled,  and 
which  shall  be  applied  and  expended  for  library  books  for  the 
said  Free  Academy. 

§  37.  The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  administer  oaths  and  take  affidavits  in  all  matters 
appertaining  to  the  schools  in  the  City  and  County  of  New 
York,  and  for  that  purpose  shall  possess  all  the  powers  of  a 
commissioner  of  deeds,  but  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  of  the 
fees  or  emoluments  thereof. 

§  38.  No  School  Officer  shall  be  interested  in  any  contract, 
payments  under  which  are  to  be  made,  in  whole  or  in  part? 
out  of  moneys  derived  from  the  School  Fund  or  raised  by  tax- 


LAWS  KELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTKUCTIOK  191 

ation  for  the  support  of  Common  Schools.  No  teacher  em- 
ployed in  any  of  the  schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  ap- 
portionment of  the  school  moneys  shall  hereafter  be  eligible 
to  the  office  of  Commissioner,  Inspector,  or  Trustee  of  Com- 
mon Schools. 

§  39.  The  Superintendent  of  School  Buildings  shall  take 
and  subscribe  before  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  give 
such  security  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  his 
office  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  direct;  and  the  de- 
partment under  his  charge  shall  be  subject  to  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  the  said  Board  may  establish,  one  of  which 
shall  prohibit  the  performance  by  him  of  any  work  on  other 
account  similar  to  that  performed  under  the  regulations  so  es- 
tablished. 

"All  the  ordinary  appropriations  made  for  the  support 
and  government  of  the  Almshouse  Department  shall,  be- 
fore the  same  are  finally  made,  be  submitted  by  the  Gover- 
nors of  the  Almshouse  to  a  Board  of  Commissioners,  con- 
sisting of  the  Mayor,  Recorder,  Comptroller,  the  President  ot 
the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  the  President  of  the  Board  of 
Councilmen ;  if  the  said  Commissioners  approve  of  the  appro- 
priation, they  shall  immediately  report  the  same  to  the  Board 
of  Supervisors;  if  they  shall  disapprove  of  the  same,  they 
shall  return  them  with  their  objections  to  the  Governors  of 
the  Almshouse  for  reconsideration,  and  in  case  the  said 
Governors  shall,  upon  a  reconsideration,  adhere  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  all  the  Governors  then  in  office  to  the  original 
appropriations,  they  shall  return  them  to  the  Commissioners, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors. 

"  The  Board  of  Education  shall  also  submit  in  like  man- 
ner all  appropriations,  required  by  them,  to  the  Commission- 
ers named  in  the  last  preceding  section,  and  said  appropria- 
tions shall  be  subject  to  all  the  provisions  of  said  section,  so 
far  as  the  same  may  be  applicable."1 

1  The  last  two  paragraphs  are  from  another  law  relalirig  to  city  affairs,  but 
are  here  inserted  for  obvious  reasons. 


192  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

An  Ad  relative  to  Common  /Schools  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

Passed  June  4,  1853. 

§  3.  The  Commissioners  referred  to  in  the  seventeenth  sec- 
tion of  the  Act  entitled  "  An  Act  further  to  amend  the  char- 
ter of  the  City  of  New  York,"  passed  the  twelfth  day  of  April, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty -three,  shall  approve  of 
and  report  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  all  appropriations  sub- 
mitted to  the  said  Commissioners  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
within  twenty  days  after  such  submission  is  made,  by  a  de- 
livery of  a  statement  of  the  appropriations  required  by  the 
Board  of  Education,  to  the  Comptroller,  who  shall  immediate- 
ly convene  the  said  Commissioners  to  consider  the  same  ;  or 
else  the  said  Commissioners  shall,  within  the  said  twenty 
days,  return  and  file  the  same,  with  their  objections,  in  the 
office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education  ;  and  the  pro- 
visions of  the .  said  Act  shall  cease  to  operate  upon  or  affect, 
from  and  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  twenty  days,  any  ap- 
propriation in 'respect  to  which  the  said  Commissioners  shall 
have  omitted  to  take  such  action ;  or  any  appropriation  to 
which  the  Board  of  Education,  upon  a  reconsideration  pursu- 
ant to  said  Act,  shall  have  adhered  by  the  requisite  vote  of 
two  thirds  which  the  said  Commissioners  shall  omit  to  report, 
within  ten  days  after  the  return  thereof  to  them,  to  the  Board 
of  Supervisors.  And  the  provisions  of  the  said  Act  shall  ap- 
ply to  such  only  of  the  appropriations  required  by  the  Board 
of  Education  as  are  required  by  law  to  be  acted  upon  by  the 
Board  of  Supervisors. 

CHANGES  IN  THE  SCHOOL  LAWS. 

On  the  25th  day  of  April,  1864,  the  Legislature  of  the  state, 
then  in  session,  passed  an  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  of  which  the  following  is  an  attested 
copy : 

§  1.  The  city  of  New  York  is  hereby  divided  into  seven 
School  Districts,  as  follows  : 

First  District— First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth, 
and  Eighth  Wards. 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTKUCTION.  193 

Second  District — Seventh,  Tenth,  Thirteenth,  and  Four- 
teenth Wards. 

Third  District — Ninth  and  Sixteenth  "Wards. 

Fourth  District — Eleventh  and  Seventeenth  Wards. 

Fifth  District— Fifteenth  and  Eighteenth  Wards. 

Sixth  District — Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  Wards. 

Seventh  District — Twelfth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twenty-sec- 
ond Wards. 

§  2.  At  every  charter  election  in  the  said  city,  there  shall 
be  elected  in  each  School  District  one  Commissioner  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  who  shall  take  office  on  the  first  daytof  January 
next  after  his  election,  and  hold  office  for  the  term  of  three 
years;  and  there  shall  also  be  elected  in  each  ward  one 
Trustee  of  Common  Schools,  who  shall  take  office  on  the  first 
day  of  January  next  after  his  election,  and  hold  office  for  the 
term  of  five  years ;  and  no  School  Officer  shall  hereafter  be 
elected  or  appointed  in  the  said  city,  except  as  provided  by 
this  act,  and  no  person  shall  at  the  same  time  hold  more  than 
one  school  office. 

§  3.  On  the  second  Wednesday  in  January,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-six,  the  Mayor  of  the  city  shall  nom- 
inate to  the  Board  of  Education  one  person  for  each  School 
District  as  a  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools,  and  the  said 
Board  shall  appoint  or  reject  each  of  the  persons  so  nomina- 
ted. If  any  of  them  shall  be  rejected,  the  Mayor  shall  make 
a  new  nomination,  and  shall  continue  to  nominate  until  seven 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  Board.  The  person  so  appointed 
shall  hold  office  until  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-seven. 

§  4.  On  the  third  Wednesday  in  November  in  every  year 
the  Mayor  of  the  city  shall  nominate  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion one  person  for  each  School  District  as  an  Inspector  of 
Common  Schools  in  the  District,  for  the  term  of  three  years, 
from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January  then  next.  The 
Board  of  Education  shall,  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  Decem- 
ber, vote  by  yeas  and  nays  upon  the  appointment  of  each  of 
the  persons  nominated  ;  and  every  person  who  shall  receive 

N 


19-i  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

the  affirmative  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  Board,  shall 
be  appointed.  If  any  of  the  persons  so  nominated  shall  fail  to 
receive  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  whole  Board,  the  Mayor 
shall  make  a  new  nomination,  and  shall  continue  to  nominate 
until  an  appointment  shall  be  made  for  each  District,  in  the 
manner  and  for  the  term  prescribed  in  this  section. 

§  5.  If,  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  January  next,  there 
shall  be  in  any  School  District  more  than  two  Inspectors  of 
Common  Schools  in  office  by  popular  election,  the  Board  of 
Education  shall  select  two  of  them,  and  such  of  the  said  In- 
spectors aa  are  not  selected  shall  immediately  cease  to  hold 
office.  After  such  reduction  in  the  number  of  Inspectors  has 
been  made,  the  Board  of  Education  shall  select  by  lot  one  of 
the  two  Inspectors  in  each  District,  in  office  by  p6pular  elec- 
tion, and  the  Inspector  selected  shall  be  an  Inspector  for  the 
District,  and  shall  hold  office  until  the  expiration  of  the  term 
for  which  he  was  elected,  and  the  Inspector  not  selected  shall 
cease  to  hold  office  unless  the  Board  of  Education  shall  ap- 
point him  an  Inspector  for  the  District,  in  which  case  he  shall 
hold  office  until  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty -six. 

§  6.  Yacancies  in  school  offices  shall  be  filled  as  follows : 
If  there  shall  be  less  than  three  Commissioners  or  three  In- 
spectors in  any  District,  every  vacancy  shall  be  filled  in  the 
case  of  a  Commissioner  until  the  same  can  be  filled  at  a  char- 
ter election ;  and  in  the  case  of  an  Inspector  for  the  unex- 
pired  portion  of  the  term  in  which  the  vacancy  exists,  in  the 
manner  provided  by  this  act  for  the  appointment  of  Inspect- 
ors ;  and  if  there  shall  be  less  than  five  Trustees  in  any  Ward, 
every  vacancy  shall  be  filled  by  the  Mayor  and  a  majority 
of  the  Inspectors  for  the  District  in  which  the  Ward  is  in- 
cluded, until  the  same  can  be  filled  at  a  charter  election. 
Every  vacancy  in  the  office  of  a  Commissioner  or  Trustee,  oc- 
curring more  than  ten  days  previous  to  any  charter  election, 
shall  be  filled  at  the  next  charter  election  for  the  unexpired 
portion  of  the  term  in  which  the  vacancy  exists. 

§  7.  The  elections  held  by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  sub- 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  195 

ject  to  the  same  laws  and  regulations  in  all  respects,  so  far  as 
the  same  may  be  applicable,  as  those  which  govern  the  char- 
ter elections  in  said  city ;  but  the  ballots  for  School  Officers 
shall  be  indorsed  "  School  Officers,  Number  ,"  and  deposit- 
ed in  a  separate  box.  Every  person  voted  for  to  fill  a  vacancy 
in  a  school  office  shall  be  designated  in  the  ballot  by  the 
words  "  To  fill  a  vacancy,"  written  or  printed  immediately 
over  his  name ;  or,  if  there  be  more  than  one  vacancy  to, be 
filled,  the  person  to  be  voted  for  shall  respectively  be  desig- 
nated by  the  words  "  To  fill  vacancy  of  years." 

§  8.  Every  School  Officer  shall,  at  the  time  of  his  election 
or  appointment,  be  a  resident  of  the  District  or  Ward  for 
which  he  is  elected  or  appointed,  and  every  Trustee  remov- 
ing from  the  Ward  for  which  he  is  elected  or  appointed,  and 
every  School  Officer  removing  from  the  city,  shall  thereby 
vacate  his  office. 

§  9.  The  Board  of  Education  shall  be  judges  of  the  elec- 
tion and  qualification  of  its  members. 

§  10.  Every  person  elected  or  .appointed  to  a  school  office 
in  said  city  shall,  before  entering  on  the  duties  of  his  office, 
and  within  fifteen  days  after  the  commencement  of  the  term 
for  which  he  is  elected,  or  from  the  time  of  being  notified  of 
his  appointment  to  fill  a  vacancy,  take  and  subscribe,  before 
the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  oath  of  office  pre- 
$cribed  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State ;  and  the  school  office 
to  which  any  person  who  shall  omit  to  take  the  said  oath 
within  the  time  and  in  the  manner  above  described,  may  have 
been  elected  or  appointed,  shall  be  vacant  at  and  from  the  ex- 
piration of  the  said  fifteen  days. 

§  11.  The  first  section  of  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the  various  acts  rel- 
ative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  passed 
July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one,  and  so  much  of  all 
other  acts  heretofore  passed  as  is  amendatory  of  the  said  sec- 
tion, are  hereby  repealed ;  but  this  section  shall  not  affect  the 
continuance  in  office  of  the  present*  School  Officers,  nor  their 
powers  or  duties. 


196  -         HISTOKY  OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

§  12.  The  schools  in  the  several  Wards  shall  be  classified 
as  Grammar,  Primary,  and  Evening  Schools,  and  teachers  for 
the  said  schools  shall  be  appointed  as  follows :  Principals  and 
Vice-principals,  by  the  Board  of  Education,  upon  the  written 
nomination  of  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Ward,  stating 
that  the  nomination  was  agreed  to  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  at  which  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  in  office 
was  present.  Other  teachers,  and  also  janitors,  shall  be  ap- 
pointed by  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  for  the  Ward  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Any  teacher  may  be  removed 
by  the  Board  of  Education  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
City  Superintendent,  or  of  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  for  the 
Ward,  or  of  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  for  the  District.  The 
Board  of  Trustees  for  the  Ward,  by  the  vote  of  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  Trustees  in  office,  may  also  remove  teach- 
ers employed  therein  other  than  Principals  and  Vice-princi- 
pals, and  may  also  remove  janitors,  provided  the  removal  is 
approved  in  writing  by  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  for  the 
District ;  and  provided  further,  that  any  teacher  so  removed 
shalf  have  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Education,  under 
such  rules  as  it  may  prescribe,  and  the  said  Board  shall  have 
power,  after  hearing  the  answer  of  the  Trustees,  to  reinstate 
the  teacher. 

§  13.  Subdivision  three  of  section  two  of  the  act  entitled 
"  An  Act  to  amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the 
various  acts  relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of 
New  York,"  passed  July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one, 
as  subsequently  amended,  is  hereby  amended  so  as  to  read  as 
follows : 

3.  To  remove  from  office  any  School  Officer  who  shall  have 
been  directly  or  indirectly  interested  in  the  furnishing  of  any 
supplies  or  materials,  or  in  the  doing  of  any  work  or  labor,  or 
in  the  sale  or  leasing  of  any  real  estate,  or  in  any  proposal, 
agreement,  or  contract  for  any  of  these  purposes,  in  any  case 
in  which  the  price  or  consideration  is  to  be  paid,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  or  directly  or  indirectly  out  of  any  school  moneys ;  or 
who  shall  have  received,  from  any  source  whatever,  any  com- 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  197 

mission  or  other  compensation  in  connection  with  any  of  the 
matters  aforesaid ;  and  any  School  Officer  who  shall  violate 
the  preceding  provisions  of  this  section,  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  upon  conviction  thereof,  shall 
be  punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  and 
imprisonment  in  the  city  prison  not  exceeding  one  year,  and 
shall  also  be  ineligible  to  any  school  office.  The  Board  shall 
also  have  power  to  remove  from  office  any  School  Officer  who 
shall  have  been  guilty  of  immoral  or  disgraceful  conduct  in 
any  matter  connected  with  his  official  duties,  or  which  tends 
to  discredit  his  office  or  the  school  system.  If  one  or  more 
School  Officers  or  tax-payers  of  the  city  of  New  York  shall 
present  a  written  charge  to  the  Board  of  Education,  accusing 
any  School  Officer  of  a  violation  of,  or  a  liability  to,  any  of 
the  provisions  of  this  section,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said 
Board  to  cause  the  same  to  be  fully  investigated.  All  testi- 
mony taken  upon  any  such  investigation  shall  be  under  oath ; 
and  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  shall  have  power,  upon  the 
application  of  the  Board  Education,  to  compel  any  witness 
who  may  have  been  duly  summoned,  to  appear  and  testify  be- 
fore the  said  Board  or  any  committee  thereof. 

§  14.  The  ninth  section  of  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the  various  acts  rel- 
ative to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  pass- 
ed July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one,  is  hereby  amend- 
ed so  as  to  read  as  follows  : 

§  9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Inspectors  of  Common 
Schools,  or  a  majority  of  them,  in  their  respective  districts,  to 
examine  in  respect  to  every  expense  certified  as  correct  by  a 
majority  of  the  Trustees  of  any  Ward  in  the  District,  and  to 
audit  every  such  expense  which  may  be  just  and  reasonable ; 
and  no  expense  shall  be  paid  unless  audited  in  this  manner. 
They  shall  also  examine,  at  least  once  in  every  quarter,  all 
the  schools  in  the  District,  in  respect  to  the  punctual  and 
regular  attendance  of  the  pupils  and  teachers,  the  number, 
fidelity,  and  competency  of  the  teachers,  the  studies,  progress, 
order,  and  discipline  of  the  pupils,  the  cleanliness,  safety,  warm- 


198  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

ing,  ventilation,  and  comfort  of  the  school  premises ;  and 
whether  or  not  the  provisions  of  the  school  laws,  in  respect 
to  the  teaching  of  sectarian  doctrines,  or  the  use  of  sectarian 
books,  have  been  violated,  and  call  the  attention  of  the 
Trustees  without  delay,  to  every  matter  requiring  immediate 
action.  They  shall  also,  on  or  before  the  thirty-first  day  of 
December,  in  each  year,  make  a  written  report  to  the  Board 
of  Education  and  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  in  respect  to  the 
condition,  efficiency,  and  wants  of  the  District,  in  respect  to 
schools  and  school  premises. 

§  15.  Until  the  first  day  of  January  next,  the  Inspectors  of 
Common  Schools  shall  have  the  powers  and  duties  now  con- 
ferred upon  them  by  law,  except  that  the  signature  of  one  in- 
spector shall  be  sufficient  to  audit  any  bill  or  claim. 

§  16.  Subdivision  two  of  section  eleven  of  the  act  entitled 
"An  Act  to  amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the 
various  acts  relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  city  of 
New  York,"  passed  July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
one,  as  subsequently  amended,  is  hereby  amended  so  as  to 
read  as  follows : 

2.  Under  such  general  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Board 
of  Education  may  establish,  to  examine  into  the  qualifications 
of  persons  proposed  as  teachers  in  any  of  the  schools  under 
the  charge  of  the  Board.  Such  examination  shall  be  con- 
ducted by  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  or  such  one  of 
his  assistants  as  he  may  designate,  in  the  presence  of  at  least 
two  Inspectors  of  Common  Schools,  who  shall  be  designated 
for  the  purpose  by  the  by-laws  of  the  Board  of  Education. 
Licenses  shall  be  granted  to  those  persons  found  upon  such 
examination  to  be  entitled  thereto,  which  shall  be  in  the 
form  prescribed  by  the  said  by-laws,  shall  be  signed  by  the 
City  Superintendent,  and  by  at  least  two  Inspectors  des- 
ignated for  the  purpose,  who  shall  certify  that  they  were 
present  at  the  examination,  and  concur  in  granting  the 
license.  The  license  of  any  teacher  may  be  revoked  for  any 
cause  affecting  the  morality  or  competency  of  the  teacher,  by 
the  written  certificate  of  the  City  Superintendent,  and  the 


LAWS  EELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  199 

written  concurrence  of  two  of  the  Inspectors  for  the  District  in 
which  the  teacher  is  employed ;  but  no  such  action  shall  be 
taken  until  at  least  ten  days'  previous  notice  has  been  allowed ; 
nor  shall  it  take  effect  until  such  certificate  of  revocation  has 
been  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
and  a  copy  served  upon  the  teacher.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  City  Superintendent  to  re-examine  any  teacher  upon  the 
written  request  of  any  two  Inspectors  of  the  District,  or  three 
Trustees  of  the  Ward,  in  which  the  teacher  is  employed.  Any 
teacher  whose  license  has  been  revoked  as  aforesaid,  may  ap- 
peal to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  with- 
in ten  days  after  service  of  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of  revo- 
cation by  the  service  of  a  written  notice  of  appeal  upon  the 
City  Superintendent ;  and  in  case  such  appeal  is  taken,  the 
teacher  shall  not  be  disqualified  until  the  revocation  is  con- 
firmed by  the  State  Superintendent.  The  City  Superintend- 
ent, in  his  annual  report  to  the  Board  of  Education,  shall 
include  a  list  of  the  licenses  granted  and  revoked  by  him. 

§  17.  Section  twenty-three  of  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to 
amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the  various  acts 
relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York," 
passed  July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-one,  is  hereby 
amended  so  as  to  read  as  follows : 

§  23.  The  Board  of  Education  may,  with  the  consent  of  a 
majority  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Ward,  or  without  such  con- 
sent, by  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  Board  of  Education,  dis- 
continue any  Grammar, Primary,  Evening,  or  Colored  School; 
and  the  said  Board  may  also  authorize  the  establishment  of  a 
new  school,  upon  the  written  application  of  a  majority  of  the 
Trustees  for  the  Ward.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of 
Education  to  decide  finally  upon  every  such  application  with- 
in thirty -five  days  after  the  same  is  presented  to  it;  and  if 
the  said  Board  shall  omit  to  do  so,  or  shall  deny  the  applica- 
tion, and  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  for  the  District  shall 
certify  that  there  is  probable  cause  for  granting  the  applica- 
tion, the  Trustees  may  appeal  to  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  whose  decision  in  the  matter  shall  be 


200  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

binding  upon  all  the  parties ;  and  if  adverse  to  the  applica- 
tion, the  same  shall  not  be  renewed  during  the  term  of  one 
year  next  hereafter. 

§  18.  The  seventh  section  of  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the  various  acts 
relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York," 
passed  July  third,  eighteen  hu-ndreo'  and  fifty -one,  as  subse- 
quently amended,  and  subdivision  four  of  section  eight  of 
the  same  act  are  hereby  repealed,  but  this  section  shall  not 
take  effect  until  the  first  day  of  January  next. 

§  19.  The  second  subdivision  of  the  tenth  section  of  the 
act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one 
act,  the  various  acts  relative  to  the  Common  Schools  of  the 
City  of  New  York,"  passed  July  third,  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-one,  as  subsequently  amended,  is  hereby  amended  so  as 
to  read  as  follows : 

2.  Under  such  general  rules  and  regulations,  and  subject 
to  such  limitations  as  the  Board  of  Education  may  prescribe ; 
to  conduct  and  manage  the  said  schools ;  to  furnish  all  need- 
ful supplies  therefor,  and  to  make  all  needful  repairs,  altera- 
tions, and  additions,  in  and  to  the  school  premises. 

§  20.  The  Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and  Trustees,  elect- 
ed or  appointed  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
shall  respectively  possess  and  exercise  the  powers  and  duties 
which  the  Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and  Trustees  of  Com- 
mon Schools  now  lawfully  possess  and  exercise,  except  as  is 
herein  otherwise  provided. 

§  21.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

The  principal  changes  produced  by  this  act  may  be  thus 
enumerated : 

First — The  Board  of  Education  is  reduced  from  forty-four 
members  elected  by  Wards,  to  twenty-one  members  elected, 
three  from  each  of  seven  Districts. 

Second— The  Boards  of  Trustees  are  reduced  from  ten 
members,  consisting  of  the  Commissioners  ex  officio  and  eight 
Trustees,  to  five  Trustees  only. 

Third — The  Inspectors,  instead  of  being  two  in  each  "Ward, 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  201 

elected  by  the  people,  will  be  three  in  each  of  seven  Districts, 
selected  by  the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Education. 

Fourth — Vacancies  in  the  office  of  Commissioner  are  to  be 
filled  by  the  Mayor  and  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  bal- 
ance of  the  year  ;  vacancies  in  the  office  of  Inspector  are  to 
be  filled  by  the  Mayor  and  the  Board  of  Education  for  the 
balance  of  the  unexpired  term,  and  vacancies  in  the  office  of 
Trustee  to  be  filled  by  the  Mayor  and  the  Inspectors  of  the 
District  embracing  the  Ward,  for  the  balance  of  the  year. 

Fifth — A  School  Officer  removing  from  the  Ward  or  city, 
vacates  his  office. 

Sixth — Principals  and  Vice-principals  of  schools  are  to  be 
nominated  to  the  Board  of  Education,  in  writing,  by  a  major- 
ity of  Trustees.  Other  teachers  and  janitors  are  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  a  majority  of  the  Trustees. 

Seventh — Eemovals  of  teachers  may  be  made  by  the  Board 
of  Education,  upon  the  recommendation,  either  of  the  City 
Superintendent,  of  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Ward, 
or  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  District.  A  majority 
of  the  Trustees  may  remove  teachers  other  than  Principals  or 
Vice-principals,  and  janitors,  on  the  approval  in  writing  of  a 
majority  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  District  in  which  the  Ward 
is  located ;  but  any  teacher  so  removed  may  appeal  to  the 
Board  of  Education,  who  shall  have  the  power  to  reinstate 
the  teacher,  after  hearing  the  answer  of  the  Trustees. 

Eighth — The  Board  of  Education  have  power  to  remove 
any  School  Officer  for  any  conduct  tending  to  throw  discredit 
on  his  office  or  the  school  system.  On  complaint  of  any 
School  Officer,  or  any  tax-payer  against  any  School  Officer, 
the  Board  of  Education  shall  investigate  the  matter,  examine 
witnesses  under  oath,  and  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  may 
compel  the  attendance  of  any  witnesses  either  before  the 
Board  of  Education  or  any  committees  thereof. 

Ninth — All  bills  passed  by  the  Boards  of  Trustees  shall 
be  audited  by  the  District  Inspectors. 

Tenth — Licenses  to  teach  shall  hereafter  be  granted  by  the 
City  Superintendent  or  one  of  his  assistants,  in  the  presence 


202  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

of  at,  least  two  inspectors  to  be  designated  for  that  duty  by 
the  Board  of  Education.  Licenses  may  be  revoked  on  a  hear- 
ing and  on  ten  days'  notice,  by  the  City  Superintendent,  with 
the  concurrence  of  two  Inspectors  of  the  District  in  which  the 
teacher  is  employed.  The  City  Superintendent  shall  re-ex- 
amine any  teacher  on  request'  of  any  two  Inspectors  of  the 
District,  or  any  three  Trustees  of  the  "Ward.  Any  teacher 
whose  license  is  revoked,  may  appeal  to  the  State  Superin- 
tendent, and  shall  not  be  disqualified  until  such  revocation  is 
confirmed. 

Eleventh — The  Board  of  Education  may,  with  consent  of  a 
majority  of  Trustees,  or  without  such  consent,  by  a  two-third 
vote,  discontinue  any  school,  and  may  establish  any  school 
on  the  written  application  of  a  majority  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Ward.  Such  applications  must  be  decided  within  thirty-five 
days  after  their  presentation ;  and  in  case  of  failure  to  act,  or 
denial  of  the  application,  on  obtaining  from  the  District  In- 
spector a  certificate  that  there  is  probable  cause  for  granting 
such  application,  the  Trustees  may  appeal  to  the  State  Su- 
perintendent, whose  decision  shall  be  final,  and,  if  adverse, 
the  application  shall  not  be  renewed  for  one  year. 

Twelfth — The  limit  of  two  hundred  dollars  to  expenses  of 
the  Local  Boards  is  abolished,  and  school  repairs,  etc.,  are  to 
be  made  by  the  Trustees,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as 
the  Board  of  Education  may  establish. 


An  Act  to  erect  the  " Free  Academy  of  the  City  of  New  York" 

into  a  College. 

Passed  March  30,  1866,  by  a  Majority. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 

Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

SECTION  1.  The  Free  Academy  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
heretofore  established  under  the  authority  of  law,  by  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York, 
and  now  under  the  supervision,  management,  and  govern- 
ment of  the  said  Board  of  Education,  shall  henceforth  be  a 


LAWS   RELATIVE   TO   PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  203 

distinct  and  separate  organization  and  body  corporate,  and  be 
known  as  "  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  and,  as 
such,  shall  have  the  powers  and  privileges  of  a  college,  pur- 
suant to  the  Revised  Statutes  of  this  state,  and  be  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  the  said  statute  relative  to  colleges,  and  to 
the  visitation  of  the  Regents  of  the  University,  in  like  man- 
ner with  the  other  colleges  of  the  state. 

SEC.  2.  The  members  of  the  said  Board  of  Education  shall 
be  ex  officio  the  Trustees  of  said  College,  and  shall  have  and 
possess  the  powers  conferred  upon,  and  be  subject  to  the 
duties  required  of  trustees  of  colleges  by  the  Revised  Statutes. 

SEC.  3.  All  acts  of  the  Legislature  now  in  force  in  regard 
to  the  said  Free  Academy,  and  to  its  control,  management, 
support,  and  affairs,  and  which  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
foregoing  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  continue  in  force,  and 
are  hereby  declared  to  be  applicable  to  the  College  hereby 
incorporated  as  aforesaid. 

SEC.  4.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately.  * 

An  Act  in  Relation  to  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Passed  April  17,  1866,  Three-fifths  being  Present. 
The  People  of  the  Stc(te  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and 

Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

SECTION  1.  The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York  shall  annually,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  day  of 
November,  report  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county 
of  New  York,  such  sum  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  in  any  one  year,  as  they  may 
require  for  the  payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  professors  and 
officers  of  the  said  College,  for  obtaining  and  furnishing  sci- 
entific apparatus,  books  for  the  library  and  students,  and  all 
other  supplies  therefor,  for  repairing  and  altering  the  College 
building,  and  for  the  support,  maintenance,  and  general  ex- 
penses of  said  College.  And  the  said  Board  of  Supervisors 
of  the  county  of  New  York  are  hereby  authorized  and  di- 
rected, in  each  and  every  year,  to  raise  and  collect  by  tax  on 
the  estate,  real  and  personal,  liable  to  taxation  in  such  county, 


20-i  HISTOKY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

such  sum  of  money,  not  to  exceed  the  amount  aforesaid,  as 
may  be  reported  to  them  by  said  Trustees,  the  amount  so  to 
be  raised  and  collected  to  be  in  addition  to  the  sums  required 
for  the  purposes  of  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  under  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  amend,  consol- 
idate, and  reduce  to  one  act  the  various  acts  of  the  city  of 
New  York  relative  to  Common  Schools,"  passed  July  third, 
eighteen^  hundred  and  fifty-one,  and  the  various  acts  amend- 
atory thereof.  And  the  said  Board  of  Supervisors  are  re- 
quired and  directed  to  raise  and  collect,  in  the  manner  afore- 
said, for  the  Trustees  of  said  College,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-six,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  for  the  uses  and  purposes  afore- 
said. 

SEC.  2.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  hereinbefore 
named,  to  select  a  suitable  site  upon  the  lands  of  the  Corpo- 
ration of  the  City  of  New  York,  north  of  Fortieth  street  in 
said  city,  ffcr  the  future  use  of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  notify  the  Commissioner  of  the  Sinking  Fund  of 
such  selection,  and  such  site  shall  not  be  sold,  leased,  or  other- 
wise encumbered  unless  such  disposition  thereof  is  expressly 
authorized  by  some  law  hereafter  passed. 

TITLES  OF  SCHOOL  ACTS  RELATING  TO  THE   CITY 
OF  NEW  YOKK. 

An  act  to  direct  certain  moneys  to  be  applied  to  the  use 
of  Free  Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April  8, 
1801.  Sess.  Laws  (Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.),  vol.  2,  p.  253. 
Directs  the  school  moneys  apportioned  to  New  York  to  be 
paid  "  to  the  Vestry  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  Yestry  of 
Christ  Church,  the  Trustees  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  Minister,  Elders,  and  Deacons  of  the  Eeformed  Dutch 
Church,  the  Trustees  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the 
Trustees  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church  belonging  to  the 
Associated  Reformed  Synod,  and  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Afri- 
can School,  and  to  the  Trustees  of  the  United  German  Luther- 
an, the  Trustees  of  the  German  Reformed  Churches,  to  the 


LAWS   RELATIVE  TO   PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  205 

Trustees  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  to  the  Trustees  of  the  United  Brethren  or  Moravian 
Church,  each,  one-eleventh  part  of  all  the  money  in  the  hands 
of  the  Common  Council." 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Society  formed  in  the  city  of 
New  York  for  promoting  the  Manumission  of  Slaves,  and  pro- 
tecting such  of  them  as  have  been  or  may  be  liberated. 
Passed  February  19,  1803.  Society  formed  1785.  School 
opened  1787. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Society  instituted  in  the  city  of 
New  York  for  the  establishment  of  a  Free  School  for  the  edu- 
cation of  poor  children,  who  do  not  belong  to  and  are  not 
provided  for  by  any  religious  society.  Passed  April  9, 1805. 
Sess.  Laws  (Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.),  vol.  4,  p.  265.  Com- 
mon School  education  from  date  of  this  law  until  1842  was 
substantially  in  charge  of  this  society,  whose  principal  found- 
er and  promoter  was  De  Witt  Clinton. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  First  Protestant 
Episcopal  Charity  School  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed 
March  14, 1806.  Sess.  Laws  (Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.),  vol. 
4,  p.  378.  This  act  incorporated  a  school  to  be  kept  instead 
of  the  Free  School  maintained  for  many  years  previous,  under 
the  care  and  management  of  the  Corporation  of  Trinity 
Church. 

An  act  for  the  further  encouragement  of  Free  Schools  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March  30, 1811.  Sess.  Laws 
(Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.),  p.  172.  Gives  to  the  Free  School 
Society  $4000  of  the  moneys  arising  from  the  excise  duties 
then  in  the  city  treasury,  and  $1000  a  year  thereafter. 

An  act  supplementary  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the 
Establishment  of  Common  Schools."  Passed  March  12, 1813. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  38.  The  General  School  Act  of  1812  did  not 
apply  to  New  York  City.  By  this  act  the  city  was  permitted 
to  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  revenue  of  the  school  fund. 
The  city  was  required  to  raise  a  sum  equal  to  its  share  of  such 
school  money.  The  Common  Council  appointed  school  com- 
missioners to  receive  and  apportion  it.  It  was  to  be  paid  "  to 


206  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

the  Trustees  of  the  Free  School  Society  in  said  city  of  New 
York,  and  the  Trustees  or  Treasurer  of  the  Orphan's  Asylum 
Society,  the  Society  of  the  Economical  School  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  the  African  Free  School,  and  of  such  incorporated 
religious  societies  in  said  city  as  now  support  or  shall  here- 
after establish  Charity  Schools  within  the  said  city,  who  may 
apply  for  the  same."  The  distribution  was  to  be  in  propor- 
tion to  the  average  number  of  children  taught  between  the 
ages  of  four  and  fifteen  years,  but  was  to  be  paid  to  no  so- 
ciqty  whose  school  had  not  been  kept  for  nine  months  in  the 
previous  year.  The  children  were  to  be  taught  free  of  ex- 
pense. The  Trustees  of  the  several  schools  were  to  make  to 
the  School  Commissioners  reports  similar  to  those  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  Common  Schools,  and  the  School  Commissioners  to  the 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  The  public  money  was 
to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  teachers'  wages.  The  Trus- 
tees of  the  several  societies  were  declared  inspectors  of  the 
schools  of  their  respective  societies. 

An  act  respecting  the  Free  School  Society  of  New  York. 
Passed  April  5,  1817.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  150.  Granted  $2000 
out  of  the  Excise  Fund. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Hamilton  Free  School  (New 
York),  and  for  other  purposes.  Passed  April  17, 1818.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  163.  The  fourth  section  gives  the  Trustees  of  this 
school  a  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  Common  School 
moneys. 

An  act  relative  to  the  common  lands  of  the  freeholders 
and  inhabitants  of  Harlem.  Passed  March  28,  1820.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  96.  Directs  the  lands  to  be  sold  by  trustees ;  §3000 
to  be  paid  to  the  Harlem  Library ;  $3500  to  the  Hamilton 
School ;  $4000  to  the  Harlem  School ;  $4500  to  Manhattan- 
ville  School ;  and,  until  such  schools  are  established,  the  funds 
are  to  remain  in  trust  in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees,  and  placed 
on  good  interest. 

An  act  relative  to  the  Koman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April  1, 1820.  Sess.  Laws, 
p.  117.  Requires  the  Commissioners  of  Common  School  Fund 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO   PUBLIC   INSTRUCTION.  207 

in  the  city  to  allow  and  pay  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  their 
proportion  of  the  Common  School  money. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  relative  to  the 
General  Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen  of  the  city  of 
New  York,"  passed  April  3,  1811.  Passed  January  26, 
1821.  Sess.  fcaws,  p.  10.  Permits  the  school  of  said  Society 
to  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  school  moneys.  Society  was 
founded  in  1784. 

An  act  relating -to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  November  19,  1824.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  337. 
Provides  for  the  apportionment  of  school  moneys  to  the  city, 
and  for  the  election  of  ten  commissioners  to  distribute  it ;  pre- 
scribes their  duties  as  to  making  reports  and  visiting  the 
schools,  and  repeals  all  former  laws  relating  to  the  schools  of 
the  city. 

An  act  incorporating  the  New  York  High  School — exact 
title  and  date  not  known.  The  school  was  a  pay  school,  and 
on  the  Lancasterian  plan. 

An  act  in  relation  to  the  Free  School  Society  of  New  York. 
Passed  January  28, 1826.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  19.  Name  altered 
to  "  Public  School  Society  of  New  York."  The  Society  was 
also  required  to  provide  for  the  education  of  all  children  with- 
out regard  to  the  sect  or  denomination  to  which  their  parents 
might  belong.  The  Trustees  were,  by  Section  3,  permitted  to 
charge  a  "  moderate  compensation  adapted  to  the  abilities  of 
the  parents  of  the  children." 

Aft  act  to  amend  the  act  relating  to  Common  Schools  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  passed  November  19,  1824.  Passed 
April  8, 1826.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  93.  Increases  the  number  of 
School  Commissioners  to  twelve. 

An  act  to  provide  for  the  building  an  Asylum  for  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March  23, 1827. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  76.  Section  1  appropriated  $10,000  for  pur- 
chase  of  land  and  erection  of  buildings,  provided  the  institu- 
tion should  raise  an  equal  sum.  The  Secretary  of  State  was 
to  approve  the  site.  By  Section  2,  the  institution  was  placed 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common 


208  HISTORY   OF   PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

Schools,  and  the  directors  were  to  file  their  consent  under 
their  corporate  seal  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Manhattanville  Free  School  in 
the  Twelfth  Ward  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March 
30, 1827.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  103.  This  was  essentially  a  Public 
and  District  School.  The  Trustees  were  annually  elected  by 
the  freeholders  of  the  village  of  Manhattanville.  To  receive 
$2500  from  Trustees  of  Harlem  fund. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Harlem  School 
in  the  Twelfth  Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April 
2,  1827.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  119.  A  Public  School,  the  Trustees 
to  be  annually  elected  by  a  vote  of  the  freeholders  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Harlem.  To  receive  $4000  from  Trustees  of  the  Har- 
lem fund. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  Trustees  of  the  Yorkville  School 
in  the  Twelfth  Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April 
2,  1827.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  114.  This  was  also  essentially  a 
Public  School,  of  which  the  Trustees  were  elected  by  the  free- 
holders of  the  village  of  Yorkville.  To  receive  $2000  from 
Trustees  of  Harlem  fund. 

An  act  further  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  incor- 
porate the  Trustees  of  the  First  Protestant  Episcopal  Charity 
School  in  the  city  of  New  York."  Passed  April  11,  1827. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  315.  Authorizes  an  increase  of  the  number 
of  schools  and  the  number  of  trustees. 

An  act  relative  to  deeds  and  mortgages  executed  or  to  be 
executed  by  the  Public  School  Society  of  New  York.  Eassed 
January  20, 1829.  Grants  the  right  to  sell  and  convey  real 
estate,  and  to  mortgage  and  confirm  all  former  sales  and 
grants. 

An  act  for  the  further  support  and  extension  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April  25,  1829. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  397.  Authorizes  the  increase  of  the  city 
school  tax  one-eightieth  of  one  per  cent. 

An  act  for  the  further  support  and  extension  of  Common 
Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April  13,  1831. 
Sess.  Laws,. p.  164.  Authorizes  a  tax  of  three-eighths  of  one 


LAWS  RELATIVE  TO   PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  209 

per  cent,  on  the  valuation  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  city 
for  the  purposes  of  Common  Schools  in  the  city.*  It  is  to  be 
apportioned  as  provided  in  the  Kevised  Statutes,  Article  7, 
Chapter  15,  Sections  117  to  127. 

An  act  relative  to  the  school  connected  with  the  Alms- 
house  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  April  13,  1835. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  54.  Declares  school  entitled  to  its  share  of 
public  moneys  in  any  apportionment  by  School  Commission- 
ers, and  places  the  school  in  charge  of  the  Public  School  So- 
ciety. 

An  act  to  extend  to  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  the 
provisions  of  the  general  act  in  relation  to  Common  Schools. 
Passed  April  11, 1842.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  184. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  extend  to  the 
city  and  county  of  New  York  the  provisions  of  the  general 
act  in  relation  to  Common  Schools,"  passed  April  11,  1842. 
Passed  April  18, 1843.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  290. 

An  act  to  amend  the  charter  of  the  Public  School  Society 
of  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March  23,  1844.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  50. 

An  act  more  effectually  to  provide  for  Common  School 
education  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York.  Passed  May 
7, 1844.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  490. 

An  act  authorizing  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of 
New  York  to  establish  a  Free  Academy.  Passed  May  7, 
1847. 

An  act  to  authorize  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of 
New  York  to  establish  Evening  Free  Schools  for  the  educa- 
tion of  apprentices  and  others.  Passed  April  16, 1847.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  82. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  more  effectually 
to  provide  for  Common  School  Education  in  the  city  of  New 
York,"  passed  May  7,  1844.  Passed  May  11,  1847.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  275. 

An  act  to  incorporate  the  New  York  Society  for  the  pro- 
motion of  education  among  colored  children.  Passed  De- 
cember 7,  1847.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  425. 

0 


210  HISTOEY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

An  act  in  relation  to  the  Public  School  Society  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  Passed  March  4,  1848.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  81. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  extend  to  the 
city  and  county  of  New  York  the  provisions  of  the  general 
act  in  relation  to  Common  Schools,"  passed  April  11,  1842. 
Passed  March  21, 1848.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  147. 

An  act  to  authorize  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of 
New  York  to  establish  Evening  Schools  for  the  education  of 
apprentices  and  others.  Passed  March  25, 1848.  Sess.  Laws, 
p.  209. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  more  effectually 
to  provide  for  Common  School  education  in  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York,"  passed  May  7,  1844.  Passed  March 

27. 1848.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  211. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  more  effectually 
to  provide  for  Common  School  education  in  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York,"  passed  May  7,  1844.  Passed  May 

11. 1849.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  549. 

An  act  to  amend  the  charter  of  the  Manhattanville  Free 
School  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March  27,  1850. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  147.  Authorized  to  convey  their  real  es- 
tate and  improvements  to  the  city.  Became  a  Grammar 
School. 

An  act  to  amend,  consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act  the 
various  acts  relative  to  Common  Schools  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  July  3, 1851.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  734. 

An  act  in  relation  to  the  school  officers  of  the  Twentieth 
Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Passed  March  26,  1852. 
Sess.  Laws,  p.  130.  Permits  them  to  enter  upon  the  duties 
of  their  office  as  soon  as  they  take  the  oath  of  office  required 
by  law. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  June  4,  1853.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  629.  Author- 
izes the  Public  School  Society  to  transfer  all  its  property 
and  schools  to  the  city. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  March  31, 1854.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  235. 


LAWS  EEL  ATI  VE  TO  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION.  211 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  April  15, 1854  Sess.  Laws,  p.  588. 

An  act  to  enable  the  schools  of  the  Five  Points  House  of 
Industry,  and  the  school  established  by  the  Ladies'  Home 
Missionary  Society,  to  participate  in  the  distribution  of  the 
Common  School  Fund.  Passed  April  12, 1855.  Sess.  Laws, 
p.  761. 

An  act  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  commission 
to  secure  the  more  perfect  establishment,  government,  reg- 
ulation, and  economy  of  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  Passed  April  17,  1857.  Sess.  Laws,  vol.  2,  p. 
528. 

An  act  to  continue  the  commission  appointed  to  secure 
the  more  perfect  establishment,  government,  regulation,  and 
economy  of  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Pass- 
ed April  14, 1858.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  318. 

An  act  in  relation  to  school  libraries  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  passed  April  13, 1860.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  626. 

An  act  to  repeal  an  act  passed  April  16,  1860,  entitled 
"  An  Act  in  relation  to  school  libraries  in  the  city  of  New 
York,"  passed  April  13, 1860.  Passed  April  15, 1861.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  194. 

An  act  to  enable  the  schools  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society 
to  participate  in  the  distribution  of  the  Common  School  Fund. 
Passed  April  17, 1862.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  455. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  April  15, 1863.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  193. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  April  25, 1864.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  822. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  March  3, 1865.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  94. 

An  act  to  erect  the  "  Free  Academy  of  the  city  of  New  I 
York  "  into  a  College.     Passed  March  30, 1866. 

An  act  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "  An  Act  to  amend,  con- 
solidate, and  reduce  to  one  act  the  various  acts  relative  to 
Common  Schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,"  passed  July  3, 
1851.  Passed  April  2,  1866.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  748. 


212  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

An  Act  in  relation  to  the  College  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  April  17, 1866. 

An  act  relative  to  Common  Schools  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Passed  April  9, 1867.  Sess.  Laws,  vol.  1,  p.  540. 

GENERAL  ACTS  AFFECTING  SCHOOLS  IN  THE  CITY 
OF  NEW  YORK. 

An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  schools.  Passed  April 
9, 1795.  Sess.  Laws  (Greenleaf)  vol.  3,  p.  248.  This  was  the 
first  general  school  law  passed  in  this  state.  It  provided  that 
there  should  be.  appropriated  from  the  treasury  $50,000  a 
year  for  five  years,  "  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and 
maintaining  schools  in  the  several  cities  and  towns  in  this 
state,  in  which  the  children  of  the  inhabitants  residing  in  the 
state  shall  be  instructed  in  the  English  language,  or  be  taught 
English  grammer,  arithmetic,  mathematics,  and  such  other 
branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful  and  necessary  to 
complete  a  good  English  education."  The  first  apportion- 
ment was  made  by  the  law,  according  to  the  representation 
of  the  counties  in  the  Assembly ;  but  it  was  provided  that 
future  apportionments  should  be  made  "  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  electors  for  members  of  Assembly  in  each  county." 
The  Boards  of  Supervisors  were  required  to  apportion  the 
money  among  the  several  towns  according  to  the  number  of 
taxable  inhabitants,  as  they  should  appear  from  the  tax  lists 
annually  returned  to  them  by  the  assessors.  The  Boards  of 
Supervisors  in  the  several  counties  in  the  state  were  also  re- 
quired to  raise  by  tax  a  sum  equal  to  the  amount  apportioned 
from  the  state  treasury,  except  that  the  city  of  Albany  was 
to  raise  a  tax  for  only  half  the  amount.  In  the  city  of  New 
York  the  money  was  to  be  used  for  the  support  of  Charity 
Schools,  and  all  other  schools,  such  as  mentioned  above, 
"  whether  the  children  taught  in  such  Charity  Schools  shall 
be  children  of  white  parents,  or  descended  from  Africans  and 
Indians."  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns  were  required  to  elect 
not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  persons  to  be  Com- 
missioners of  Schools,  to  have  the  distribution  of  the  money 


ACTS  AFFECTING  NEW  YORK  CITY  SCHOOLS.  213 

and  the  superintendence  of  the  schools.  The  cities  of  Albany 
and  Hudson,  for  the  purposes  of  the  act,  were  declared  to  be 
towns.  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns  were  authorized  to  elect 
Trustees,  and  to*  associate  together  for  the  purpose  of  hiring 
school-masters  and  organizing  schools.  The  Trustees  were 
required  to  make,  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  March  in  each 
year,  a  return  of  the  school  kept  in  their  charge,  containing 
the  name  of  the  master  or  masters,  the  number  of  days  he  or 
they  had  taught,  the  names  of  the  scholars  instructed,  and  the 
number  of  days  they  have  severally  attended  the  school,  and 
the  time  or  times  within  which  the  school  has  been  kept. 
The  Commissioners  were  "  to  collect  into  one  sum  the  whole 
number  of  days  for  which  each  and  every  scholar,  that  may 
have  attended  any  one  of  the  said  schools,  shall  have  been  in- 
structed therein,  and  to  apportion  the  moneys  allotted  to  and 
raised  in  that  town  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  according  to  the 
whole  number  of  days  for  which  instruction  shall  appear  to 
have  been  given  in  said  schools,  in  such  manner  that  the  school 
in  which  the  greater  number  of  days  of  instruction  shall  appear 
to  have  been  given  shall  have  a  proportionably  larger  sum." 
The  money  was  paid  to  the  Trustees  by  an  order  drawn  by  the 
Commissioners  on  the  County  Treasurer.  The  Commissioners 
were  required  to  make  to  the  County  Treasurer  an  annual  re- 
port of  the  condition  of  the  schools,  and  the  County  Treasurer 
was  required  to  transmit  the  same  to  the  Secretary  of  State. 

An  act  further  to  amend  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  for  the 
encouragement  of  schools."  Passed  March  10,  1797.  Sess. 
Laws  (Greenleaf 's  ed.),  vol.  3,  p.  397.  Ordered,  that  in  the  city 
of  New  York  one-sixth  part  of  the  public  money  should  be 
apportioned  to  the  Charity  Schools,  and  the.  other  five-sixths 
"  among  the  schools  which  in  any  wards  in  the  city  may  be 
established  and  conducted  in  conformity  to  the  said  act." 
The  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  also  granted  the  same  rights, 
powers,  and  privileges  as  were  granted  the  inhabitants  resid- 
ing in  any  parts  of  any  towns  in  the  state.  It  was  also  pro- 
vided that  no  school  in  the  state  should  receive  any  more 
money  in  any  one  year  than  should  be  required  to  pay  the 


214  HISTORY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 

master  or  masters  for  the  same  year.  The  apportionment 
was  made  for  the  years  1796,  1797,  1798,  but  was  omitted 
for  the  years  1799  and  1800.  An  abstract  of  the  returns  for 
the  year  1798  from  sixteen  of  the  twenty-thre'e  counties  shows 
a  total  of  1352  schools  organized  according  to  the  act,  in 
which  59,660  children  were  taught. 

An  act  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  encouragement  of  Common 
Schools.  Passed  April  2,  1805.  Sess.  Laws  (Webster  & 
Skinner's  ed.),  vol.  4,  p.  126.  Appropriates  the  net  proceeds 
of  500,000  acres  of  land  first  sold  after  the  passage  of  the  act, 
to  be  a  permanent  fund  for  the  support  of  Common  Schools. 
No  distribution  of  the  income  was  to  be  made  until  the  in- 
terest should  amount  to  $50,000  annually.  This  act  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Common  School  Fund. 

An  act  for  the  establishment  of  Common  Schools.  Passed 
June  19, 1812.  Sess.  Laws  (Webster  &  Skinner's  ed.),  p.  600. 
This  was  the  first  law  for  the  organization  of  Common 
Schools.  It  was  repealed  in  1814,  and  superseded  by  an 
amended  act.  Eepealed  and  revised  in  1819.  The  revisers, 
whose  work  is  known  as  the  Eevised  Statutes,  framed  a  new 
statute  which  took  effect  January  1,  1828,  and  which  repeal- 
ed all  general  laws  on  the  subject  of  a  previous  date. 

An  act  to  appropriate  the  income  of  the  United  States  De- 
posit Fund  to  the  purposes  of  education  and  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge.  Passed  April  17,  1838.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  220. 
The  second  section  appropriates  §110,000  annually  for  the 
support  of  Common  Schools.  The  fourth  section  appropriates 
§55,000  annually  to  the  purchase  of  books  for  school  libraries. 
These  appropriations  have  been  annually  made  since  the  pas- 
sage of  the  law.  The  surplus  revenue  has  been  bestowed 
upon  colleges,  academies,  and  literary  institutions. 

An  act  establishing  Free  Schools  throughout  the  state. 
Passed  March  26,  1849.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  683.  Submitted  to 
the  people,  and  ratified  by  large  majorities  in  every  county. 
Majority  in  the  city  of  New  York,  19,739. 

An  act  submitting  to  the  people  at  the  next  annual  elec- 
tion the  question  of  the  repeal  of  the  act  establishing  Free 


ACTS  AFFECTING  NEW  YORK  CITY  SCHOOLS.  215 

Schools  throughout  the  state.  Passed  April  15, 1830.  Sess. 
Laws,  p.  804  Majority  against  repeal  in  the  entire  state 
was  about  25,000.  The  system  was  saved  by  the  cities,  and 
particularly  by  New  York  City  and  County,  which  gave  a 
majority  of  37,827  against  repeal. 

An  act  to  provide  for  the  care  and  instruction  of  idle  and 
truant  children.  Passed  April  12, 1853.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  358. 

An  act  creating  the  office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction.  Passed  March  30, 1854.  Sess.  Laws,  p.  230. 
Created  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction,  and  transferred 
to  it  the  Superintendence  of  the  Common  Schools.  The  Sec- 
retary of  State  had  been  ex  officio  Superintendent  from  April 
3,  1821,  to  April  8, 1854.  There  had  been  a  State  Superin- 
tendent from  January  14,  1813,  to  April  3,  1821,  when  the 
office  was  abolished. 


XIX. 

ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  CENSUS  OF  THE  CITY  OF 
NEW  YORK,  1867. 

IN  November,  1867,  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
by  means  of  circular  letters  and  other  agencies,  instituted  a 
series  of  special  inquiries  into  the  educational  history  and 
statistics  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  its  schools,  public,  pri- 
vate, and  denominational.  Besides  the  general  and  prompt 
response  afforded  by  principals,  trustees,  and  other  officers, 
valuable  assistance  was  obtained  from  Superintendent  Ken- 
nedy, of  the  Metropolitan  Police. 

The  inquiries  embraced,  among  others,  the  following  par- 
ticulars : 

The  name  and  location  of  each  school. 

How  supported. 

The  whole  number  of  pupils  taught  during  the  year  end- 
ing October  1, 1867. 

Their  ages,  sex,  color,  and  nativity. 

The  number  of  teachers  employed,  both  male  and  female, 
and  the  number  of  years'  experience  in  teaching. 

The  course  of  study. 

The  number  of  weeks  the  school  has  been  opened,  and  the 
length  of  the  daily  session. 

The  average  annual  cost  per  pupil. 

The  number  of  volumes  in  the  school  library. 

The  approximate  value  of  philosophical  apparatus  and  of 
real  estate. 

Such  other  information,  historical  or  statistical,  as  could 
be  furnished. 

These  statistics  relate  to  no  less  than  584  schools,  and  their 
collection  and  subsequent  reduction  to  proper  form  involved 
much  labor. 


ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  CENSUS.  217 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  to  many  of  these  inquiries  the 
replies  were  not  sufficiently  general  or  definite  to  allow  their 
presentation  in  tabular  form.  Yet  all  the  more  important 
points  have  been  covered,  and  the  results  are  very  valua- 
ble. 

The  total  expense  of  each  school  has  been  found  by  multi- 
plying the  whole  number  taught  by  the  reported  average  an- 
nual expense  per  pupil.  The  result  may  be  somewhat  in  ex- 
cess of  the  true  amount,  but  is  believed  to  be  substantially 
correct. 

Some  apparent  discrepancies  in  the  statistics  of  the  Public 
Schools  are  removed  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  annual 
reports  close  with  the  31st  of  December,  while  this  special  re- 
port includes  the  interval  of  one  year  ending  October  1, 1867. 

WHOLE  NUMBER    OF    SCHOOLS. 

Under  control  of  the  Board  of  Education 219 

Corporate  Schools  partly  controlled  by  the  Board 36 

All  other  schools 329 

Total 584 

PUPILS HOW   DISTRIBUTED. 

Whole  number  reported  taught  in  Schools  of  the  Board.  224,410 
"          "  "  "          all  other  schools 45,787 


Total  reported  taught  during  the  year 270,203 

Among  these  there  were  : 

In  the  Corporate  Schools  of  the  Board 1C,  567 

In  other  Corporate  Schools 5,213 

Denominational  Schools 31,490 

In  Private  Schools  of  all  kinds 27,058 

In  Day  Schools 250,493 

In  Evening  Schools 19,710 

COLOR, 

White  pupils 267,770 

Colored  pupils 2,433 

AGES. 

Under  12  years  of  age ...71  per  cent 191,844 

12  years  of  age,  or  over 29  percent 78,359 

SEX. 

Male  pupils 54  per  cent 145,909 

Female  pupils 46  per  cent 124,294 


218  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

The  nativity  of  the  pupils  of  the  Day  Schools  of  the  Board 
only  is  given  ;  in  the  private  and  other  schools  it  could  not 
be  ascertained : 

NATIVITY. 

Born  in  the  United  States 90£  per  cent. 

"      Germany 3f      " 

11      Great  Britain  and  Ireland 4^      " 

"      France 1      " 

Born  elsewhere 1 1        " 

This  statement  does  not  properly  indicate  the  nativity  of 
the  parents ;  a  matter  somewhat  difficult  to  obtain,  especially 
in  the  Primary  Schools  and  Departments.  In  a  Grammar 
School  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  large  German  population 
recent  inquiry  showed  that  in  the  seven  classes  of  one  depart- 
ment the  German  parentage  alone  varied  from  fifty  to  eighty 
per  cent.  In  other  sections  of  the  city  other  nationalities  pre- 
dominate; but  in  most  instances,  as  the  table  above  given 
would  suggest,  American  parentage  is  most  largely  repre- 
sented. 

ATTENDANCE. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  average  attendance  and 
the  whole  number  taught  in  the*  several  classes  of  schools 
under  the  supervision  of  the  Board.  The  large  proportion 
of  pupils  in  the  Primary  Schools  and  Departments,  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  course  of  study  and  the  report- 
ed ages  of  pupils,  throws  much  light  upon  the  condition  of  a 
large  part  of  those  children  who  are  the  chief  subject  of  the 
article  on  the  "  Vagrant  Question." 

AVEEAGE  WHOLE  No. 

ATTENDANCE.  TAUGHT. 

Male  Grammar  Schools 15,392 31,438 

Female  Grammar  Schools 13,264 27,114 

Primary  Schools  and  Departments 52,198 129,900 

Colored  Schools 702 1,887 

Normal  Schools 406 1,000 

Total  for  Public  Day  Schools 81,962 191,339 

Corporate  Schools  of  the  Board 6,074 16,567 

Total  for  Day  Schools 88,036 207,900 

Evening  Schools  of  the  Board — Males 4,716)     „  A™—  11,877")        1ft  ,-10 

Females...2,763;     7'479...   4,633/  ' 

Total  for  all  schools  of  the  Board 95,515 224,416 


ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL  CENSUS.  219 

TEACHERS. 

MALES.      FEMALES. 

In  the  Schools  of  the  Board 3GO 2,044 

In  all  other  schools 901 717 


Total  number  of  Teachers 4,022 1,2G1 2,7G2 

COST. 

Cost  of  224,415  pupils  in  Schools  of  the  Board $2,950,000 

"       45,787        "        other  schools 2,101,232 

"     270,203        "        all  schools $5,051,232 

Iii  this  estimate  the  total  cost  of  the  Public  Schools  in- 
cludes a  large  sum  for  the  necessary  new  buildings,  repairs, 
supplies,  etc.,  while  in  the  case  of  the  private  schools  the  cost 
of  tuition  only  is  given. 

The  following  is  the  cost  of  tuition  of  pupils  and  care  of 
the  buildings  in  the  schools  of  the  Board  : 

Salaries  of  Teachers  in  Ward  Schools $1,497,180  88 

"         Janitors  "  75,686  29 

"         Teachers  and  Janitors  in  Evening 

Schools 87,191  97 

Salaries  of  Teachers  and  Janitors  in  Colored 

Schools 30,150  26 

Salaries  of  Teachers   and  Janitors  in  Normal 
Schools 7,605  62 


Total $1,697,815  02 

Gas  and  fuel  for  Ward  and  Evening  Schools 83,024  03 


Total  for  tuition,  gas,  and  fuel $1,780,839  05 

"Books,  maps,  stationery,  etc.,  for  all  schools $184,370  24 

The  total  cost  of  the  sites,  buildings,  and  appurtenances  at 
present  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Education  has  been 
a  little  short  of  $5,000,000.  The  present  estimated  value 
of  this  property  is  at  least  double  that  amount,  or  nearly 
$8,000,000.  Several  valuable  pieces  of  property  no  longer 
needed  for  school  purposes  have  been  transferred,  as  by  law 
provided,  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund.  These 
are  not  credited  to  the  Board  of  Education  as  an  offset  to  ex- 
penses. 

The  amount  apportioned  to  each  of  the  following  schools 
is  based  upon  the  average  attendance  of  the  last  year.  This 
is  the  case  with  all  schools  participating. 


220 


HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 


COEPOEATE   SCHOOLS    TTNDER   SUPERVISION    OF   THE   BOAED. 


SCHOOLS. 

a 

1 

AVERAGE. 

WHOLE 
NUMBER. 

AMOUNT 
APPORTIONED. 

New  York  Orphan  Asylum  

506 

171 

184 

$1,151  28 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  — 
Male  Department  

(485 

473 

559) 

Female  Department  

(484 

354 

397  1 

5,763  78 

Protestant  Half-orphan  Asylum  
House  of  Refuge  

570 
512 

145 

1,091 

310 

1  790 

1,601  46 

7  512  84 

Leake  and  Watts  Orphan  House  — 
Male  Department  

(909 

55 

74) 

Female  Department. 

(466 

39 

52  1 

804  42 

Colored  Orphan  Asvlum  

505 

213 

264 

1,490  76 

American  Female  Guardian  So-) 
ciety    and    Home    Industrial  >• 

452 

920 

4,130 

5,011  02 

New  York  Juvenile  Asylum  

574 

603 

1,136 

4,295  16 

House  of  Reception  of  do  

514 

126 

1,028 

922  50 

Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society. 
Five  Points  House  of  Industry  
Children's  Aid  Society  

454 
510 

5,483* 

352 
413 
1,051 

1,834 
1,095 
3,702 

2,022  12 
2,627  28 
6,900  30 

Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital  

516 

68 

82 

369  00 

Total  

6,074 

16,567 

$40,471  92 

Among  the  schools  not  known  as  Public  Schools  there  are 
the  following : 


DENOMINATION  s. 

1 

MALE 

TEACHERS. 

FEMALK 
TEACHERS. 

PUPILS. 

REPORTSD 

<J<»T. 

Catholic  Free  Schools  

23 

56 

91 

16,342 

$142,909 

Catholic  Pay  Schools 

24 

96 

95 

6,070 

176  976 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  

24 

29 

28 

2,367 

4   56,515 

Other  Protestant  Denominations. 

22 

38 

25 

5,718 

27,980 

Children's  Aid  Society  

13 

3 

26 

3,702 

18,510 

N.Y.  Female  Guardian  Society... 

7 

16 

4,130 

48,527 

Hebrew  Schools,  including  Or-  ) 
phan  Asylum  > 

12 

24 

8 

998 

35,323 

German  Schools,  Free  and  Pri-  > 

25 

86 

33 

3,641 

102,383 

7 

25 

51 

3,267 

368,000 

Colleges  and  Corporate  Schools  ) 
for  Adults  > 

8 

134 

11 

5,133 

308,000 

Other  Private  Schools  

168 

407 

323 

11,875 

757,000 

In  this  case  the  nggregate  of  the  thirteen  schools  of  the  Society  ia  given. 


ABSTRACT  OF  SCHOOL   CENSUS. 


221 


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HISTOKY   OF  PUBLIC   EDUCATION. 


XX. 

MEMORANDA— CHRONOLOGICALLY  ARRANGED. 

From  1614  to  the  Establishment  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1S42. 

1614.  New  Amsterdam  settled. 
-1633.  Adam  Roelandsen  the  first  New  York  school-master. 

1642.  First  efforts  to  build  a  school-house. 

1659.  Luyck's  Latin  School  established. 

1661.  Evart  Pietersen,  sixth  school-master,  and  last  before  the  English  occu- 
pation. 

1696.  William  III.  grants  to  ministers  and  Consistory  of  the  Dutch  Church 
the  right  to  appoint  the  school-master. 

1702.  Free  Grammar  School  founded,  and  built  on  the  King's  Farm. 

1704.  William  Vesey,  Episcopal  missionary,  opens  a  school  for  blacks. 

1705.  Lord  Cornbury  claims  the  right  of  appointing  the  school-masters. 
1710.  William  Huddlestone,  first  master  of  Trinity  School. 

1732.  First  Free  School  for  teaching  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics,  estab- 
lished by  law — Principal,  Alex.  Malcolm,  gets  £40  a  year. 

1754.  King's — now  Columbia  College — founded. 

1755.  Nicholas  Whelp,  school-master,  imported  from  Holland. 
1764.  Dutch  Church  has  services  in  the  English  tongue. 

1773.  English  language  taught  in  the  Dutch  School. 
1776.  Schools  closed  by  the  war. 

1783.  Dutch  Church  School  reopens  in  September. 

1784.  First  receives  the  name  of  Charity  School. 

1785.  Manumission  Society  founded. 
1787.  Its  first  school  opened  in  Cliff  Street. 

1795.  Clinton,  in  his  message,  recommends  the  establishment  of  Common 

Schools  throughout  the  state. 
Act  appropriating  $50,000  a  year  for  five  years. 
1798.  Teachers'  Association — John  Woods,  President. 
1802.  Female  Association  established. 

1805.  One  hundred  and  forty-one  teachers  in  the  city. 
Act  establishing  the  Common  School  Fund. 
Act  incorporating  the  Free  School  Society. 

De  Witt  Clinton,  first  President  of  the  Society. 

Prof.  John  Griscom  gives  the  first  course  of  popular  lectures  on  physical 
science  ever  given  in  New  York. 

1806.  New  York  Orphan  Asylum  founded. 
Free  School  No.  1  opened. 


MEMORANDA.  223 

1807.  Colfege  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  chartered. 

1808.  New  charter  of  Free  School  Society. 

1809.  No.  1  reopened  in  Tryon  Row— permanent  location. 

1811.  No.  2  opened  in  Henry  Street  on  ground  given  by  Col.  Rutgers. 
Trinity  Church  gives  site  for  No.  3  in  Christopher — now  Grove  Street. 

1812.  Fifty  ladies  instruct  Free  School  pupils  in  various  catechisms. 
Act  establishing  Common  Schools  throughout  the  state,  June  19. 

1813.  Act  apportioning  the  school  moneys,  where   distributed,  among  the 

schools  of  the  city. 

1814.  First  official  record  of  pupils,  preparatory  to  the 

1815.  First  distribution  of  the  income  of  the  School  Fund. 

1817.  Committee  "  to  procure  from  England  a  teacher  completely  competent 

to,  teach  the  Lancasterian  system." 
Rewards  and  punishments  by  tickets  of  nominal  value  of  one-eighth 

of  a  cent;  prizes  exhibited  in  glass  cases,  and  labeled  with  ticket 

values. 
Act  passed  permitting  Society  to  expend  surplus  money  on  building  new 

schools. 

1818.  Geo.  T.  Trimble  elected  a  member,  May  1. 

No.  3  opened  in  the  village  of  Greenwich,  under  Shepard  Johnson. 

Resolution  that  No.  4  shall  be  so  built  as  to  allow  the  separate  instruc- 
tion of  girls. 

Teacher  Picton  arrives  from  England. 

Teachers  ordered  to  institute  special  classes  between  G  and  8  A.M. 
during  four  months  each  year  for  monitors  and  "high  scholars" — 
abolished  in  less  than  a  year. 

Picton  organizes  St.  Peter's  School  in  Barclay  Street  on  the  Lancas- 
terian plan. 

Dec.  14,  Lancaster  in  New  York. 

Fifty  dollars'  worth  of  books  on  history,  voyages,  and  travels,  for  each 
school. 

First  Manual  completed  by  teachers. 

1819.  Among  the  estimates  are,  salaries,  $3600;  three  monitors'  board,  $550; 

their  clothes,  $300  ;  rewards  and  prizes,  $300. 
Memorial  to  Legislature  for  $10,000,  Jau.  19;  get  $5000. 
Kesolution  that  pupils  shall  repeat  passages  from  tracts  against  use  of 

ardent  spirits. 

Simultaneous  examination  of  schools  abandoned. 
Death  of  John  Murray,  Jr.,  Vice-president,  and  one  of  the  three 

originators  of  the  Society. 

1 820.  First  vacation  of  three  weeks  in  August. 

Apprenticed  monitors  of  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3  too  expensive;  will  average 
$200  a  year ;  monitors  in  No.  4  cost  only  fifty  cents  a  week. 

"Resolved,  that  the  three  monitors  be  continued  at  $100  a  year  each 
until  they  can  find  other  situations  ;"  they  are  advertised  as  disposable 
in  the  New  York  and  the  Albany  papers. 


224  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

1821.  Moffit  and  Sommerfield,  of  England,  visit  the  schools. 

Regular  correspondence  maintained  with  British  and  Foreign  School 
Society,  who  continue  as  from  1805  to  supply  slates  and  other  school 
material. 

2000  copies  of  "Universal  Non-sectarian  Catechism "  purchased. 

Scripture  lessons  adopted. 

1822.  Lots  purchased,  and  preparation  made  to  build  No.  5. 

Bethel  Free  School  complains  that  No.  5  will  interfere  with  them. 
Remonstrance  to  Legislature  as  to  extra  privileges  granted  to  Bethel 
School. 

Register  number,  2873,  only  one-third  of  them  girls  ;  Female  Associa- 
tion has  760  girls  ;  African  Schools,  650  pupils. 

Proposition  to  have  some  of  the  oldest  and  most  meritorious  pupils 
taught  grammar,  geography,  history,  and  mathematics. 

Schools  closed  on  account  of  the  yellow  fever. 

1823.  Punishment  with  the  rod  abolished,  Jan.  7 ;  "  After  every  persuasion  has 

failed,  a  small  leathern  strap  may  be  applied  to  the  palm  of  the  hand  ; 

and,  if  this  also  fails,  the  delinquent  may  be  discharged  by  the  Visiting 

Committee  and  '  by  proclamation  ; ' "  that  is,  a  monitor  visits  each  class 

in  turn  and  proclaims  that  A B is  "  turned  out  of  school  n 

for  such  and  such  an  offense,  or  it  is  done  before  the  assembled 

school. 
March  1,  Protest  from  No.  1  in  relation  to  the  strap  ;  "  palm  of  hand" 

amended  to  read  "hand,"  and  Committee  of  Supplies  directed  "to 

procure  suitable  straps  for  all  the  schools, "male  and  female. 
Teachers  of  No.  1  and  3  reported  to  have  announced  the  strap  order  in 

a  very  improper  manner ;  investigation  ordered ;   report  exonerates 

them. 

Girls  admitted  to  No.  1,  and  placed  in  separate  drafts. 
May  1,  Picton  of  No.  4  protests  against  the  strap  order. 
June  1,  "  Sections  "  appointed  to  each  school ;  strap  order  repealed,  and 

ratan  reinstated. 
Committee  on  Rewards  and  Punishments  report  advising  a  limited 

use  of  the  rod,  but  that  the  chief  dependence  be  upon  rewards;  $150 

to  be  spent  in  "prizes "  for  this  purpose. 
Proposition  from  "middle-class  citizens  to  be  allowed  to  send  their 

children  for  pay." 
Freemasons  and  Fire  Department  have  paid  to  date  $3275  for  the 

tuition  of  200  poor  children. 

1824.  No.  6  opened  at  BeUevue ;  Johnson  and  several  monitors  assist  to  or- 

ganize. 

Samuel  W.  Seton  elected  a  member,  and  assigned  to  No.  3 ;  makes  "  a 
very  animated  and  appropriate  speech  to  the  children,"  and  becomes 
chief  annual  speaker  for  25  or  30  years. 

Four  hundred  tickets  for  Scudder's  Museum  are  presented  by  the  Wid- 
ow Scudder  and  her  son  ;  they  arc  elected  members  of  the  Society  ;  the 


MEMORANDA.  225 

tickets  are  given  out  to  pupils  as  "prizes  "  to  one  in  forty-five  of  the 
weekly  attendance ;  they  last  for  two  or  three  years ;  a  committee 
accompany  the  pupils  to  the  Museum. 

School  Fund  gives  $7211. 

New  York  Atheneum  founded,  "for  the  Encouragement  of  Popular  Sci- 
ence and  the  Liberal  Arts." 

La  Fayette  visits  No.  3  in  October ;  grand  parade  and  review  of  school 
children  in  the  Park. 

Whole  number  attending  Free  and  Charity  Schools  during  the  year, 

10,383  ;  Free  Schools,  6976. 
V"      Incorporation  of  New  York  High  School  Society ;  school  to  be  on  the 

Lancasterian  plan  ;  charter  to  expire  in  15  years. 

V  1825.  High  School  for  males  opened  in  Crosby  Street,  near  Broome,  Dr.  John 
Griscom  and  D.  H.  Barnes,  Principals,  with  200  pupils  ;  680  present 
in  1827,  and  70  to  80  waiting  for  room;  Introductory  Department, 
$3;  Junior,  $5;  Senior,  $7  per  quarter,  fuel  and  stationery  extra; 
70  classical  pupils  ;  "  mutual  instruction  in  all  branches  ;"  disastrous 
effects  upon  many  private  schools  ;  two  Free  School  principals  enter 
as  tutors. 

Borland  and  Forrest,  45  Warren  Street,  have  80  classical  students. 

1826.  New  charter,  and  new  title — PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY. 
Pay  system  goes  into  operation. 

y/Feb.  1,  High  School  for  Girls  opened  in  Crosby  Street,  near  Spring ; 
terms,  $3,  $5,  $7  per  quarter;  Junior  Course  includes  "plain  sew- 
ing, marking  and  cutting,  and  making  of  female  dresses." 

Establishment  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Public  School  Society. 

Disastrous  working  of  the  pay  system. 

Two  permanent  monitors  appointed  to  each  department. 

Very  large  script  alphabet  first  painted  on  the  front  walls  of  school- 
rooms in  Nos.  5  and  7 ;  then  of  Nos.  3  and  8. 

1827.  Infant  School  Society ;  Mrs.  Beth une,  First  Directress. 

No.  10  opened  in  Duane  Street — Junior  Department  instituted. 

1828.  S.  W.  Seton  appointed  General  Inspector  of  Schools  and  Visitor  of  Par- 

ents. 

Death  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Feb.  11,  at  Albany. 

March  4,  Samuel  Demilt  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees ; 
he  was  for  many  years  a  leading  spirit  in  the  government  of  thp  So- 
ciety ;  member  of  Executive  Committee,  May,  1830 ;  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Teachers  till  his  death,  May,  1845. 

Abolition  of  tickets ;  Certificates  of  Merit  soon  after  substituted  ;  tick- 
ets had  been  given  for  sundry  monitorial,  police,  and  sanitary  du- 
ties, and  forfeited  as  fines  for  various  offenses ;  $25  worth  of  books, 
penknives,  scissors,  toys,  etc.,  had  been  given  annually  to  each  de- 
partment ;  sold  quarterly  in  school  at  auction  for  tickets ;  pupils 
often  played  in  street  till  late,  because  "able  to  pay ;"  very  worst 
boys  often  had  most  tickets,  and  purchased  all  the  most  valuable 
P 


226  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

prizes ;  tickets  often  bought  from  boys  of  other  schools ;  system  fre- 
quently led  to  violence  and  dishonesty. 

Colonel  Henry  Eutgers,  second  President. 

No.  11,  in  Wooster  Street,  opened  Oct.  27. 

1829.  Legislature  gives  power  to  mortgage ;  5000  citizen  tax-payers  memorial- 

ize for  a  tax ;  passed  law  for  tax  of  one-eightieth  of  one  per  cent. 
School  census  of  city  taken. 
Mr.  Seton  takes  charge  of  the  Depository,  in  addition  to  his  other 

duties. 

Female  Association  opens  an  Infant  School  in  basement  of  No.  5. 
Rutgers  dies  ;  Peter  A.  Jay,  third  President. 

1830.  Slates  still  imported  from  London. 

1831.  No.  12  opened  in  Seventeenth  Street  Jan.  1,  burned  to  the  ground  on 

the  6th. 

Primary  Departments  established. 

Additional  tax  of  three-eightieths  of  one  per  cent. 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  admitted  to  participate  in  school  mon- 
eys. 

John  Delamater  elected  trustee,  and  assigned  to  No.  3,  Aug.  5. 

Special  Committee,  Mr.  Trimble  chairman,  "  appointed  to  re-examine 
Boys'  Departments  Nos.  2,  4,  5,  8,  and  9,  with  power  to  invite  the 
principals  thereof — one  or  all — to  resign;"  three  lose  their  places. 

1832.  Pay  system  finally  abolished. 

if  Male  High  School  building  sold  to  Mechanics'  Society. 

Committee  visit  Boston ;  result,  establishment  of  the  small  Primary 

Schools. 
Common  Council,  by  special  ordinance,  deny  aid  to  poor  families  who 

neglect  to  send  their  children  to  school ;  ordinance  posted  throughout 

the  city. 

Cholera  closes  the  schools ;  No.  4  a  hospital. 
Temporary  school  out  of  town  at  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor — Broadway  and 

Eighth  Street. 
Manumission  Society  appoint  a  committee  of  conference  for  a  transfer 

of  their  schools. 

1833.  Extension  of  course  of  instruction  in  upper  departments  ;  appointment 

of  assistants, 

Mr.  Seton  appointed  agent — really  a  superintendent  under  another 
name,  and  keeper  of  Depository  ;  total  salary,  $800. 

Term  Monitorial  substituted  for  Lancasterian  in  the  by-laws. 

Evening  Schools  established,  and  the  teachers  of  the  Day  Schools  com- 
pelled to  serve  without  additional  pay. 

First  annual  examination  of  Primary  Schools  began  April  9. 

Principals'  salaries  increased— Male  Department,  to  $1000;  Female 
Department,  to  $400. 

No.  13  opened  in  May  ;  No.  14  in  November. 

1834.  Transfer  of  schools  of  Manumission  Society,  May  2. 


MEMORANDA.  227 

1834.  Public  School  Society  have  49  principals,  28  assistants,  75  monitors; 

total  salaries,  $36,650. 
Adoption  of  special  report  of  Samuel  Demilt,  Chairman  of  Committee 

on  Teachers  and  Monitors,  advising  a  school  for  monitors  ;  it  finally 

becomes  the  Saturday  Normal  School  August  1. 
Teachers'  Library  established. 
House  of  Refuge  School,  Colored  School  in  Allen  Street,  and  Colored 

School  of  Five  Points  apply  for  adoption  by  the  Public  School  Society 

— applications  refused. 

1835.  No.  6,  the  Almshouse  School,  removed  to  Long  Island  Farms ;  being  out 

of  the  county,  the  Public  School  Society  retain  control  by  special 
act. 

Male  assistants  ask  increase  of  their  salary  from  $500  a  year  to  $600 — 
application  denied;  Committee  on  Teachers  and  Monitors  acknowl- 
edge in  their  report  that  it  is  a  rather  low  salary  for  such  acquire- 
ments, but  think  that  the  possibility  of  some  day  becoming  principal  at 
$1000  is  sufficient  additional  inducement. 

1836.  The  African  Schools  have,  since  the  transfer,  "greatly  diminished  in 

numbers,  efficiency,  and  usefulness  ;"  committee  appointed  to  investi- 
gate ;  final  report ;  one  cause,  the  great  "  anti-slavery  riots  "  and  at- 
tacks upon  colored  population ;  many  families  had  removed  from  the 
city  ;  many  children  kept  at  home ;  they  knew  the  Manumission 
Society  as  their  special  friends ;  knew  nothing  of  the  Public  School 
Society ;  reduction  of  all  Colored  Schools  but  one  to  the  rank  of 
Primary  had  given  great  offense  ;  also  the  discharge  of  teachers  who 
had  been  long  employed,  and  discontinuance  of  rewards  and  of  taking 
home  spelling-books ;  strong  prejudices  had  grown  up  against  the 
Public  School  Society ;  committee  recommend  a  prompt  assimilation 
of  the  Colored  Schools  to  the  white ;  the  establishment  of  two  more 
upper  schools  in  a  new  building ;  a  Normal  School  for  colored  moni- 
tors, and  the  appointment  of  a  colored  man  as  agent  at  $150. 

Death  of  Lloyd  D.  Windsor,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Society,  and  for 
25  years  Principal  of  No.  1,  August  5,  1836;  he  was  very  highly 
esteemed. 

Male  assistant's  salary  raised  to  $700. 

1837.  Five  hundred  dollars  appropriated  for  Teachers'  Library. 

Amon  M'Vey,  Superintendent  of  Repairs,  etc.,  appointed  Sept.  7 ;  sala- 
ry, $750. 

Executive  Committee  learn  that  French  is  being  taught  in  several 
schools  ;  investigation  ordered  ;  classes  found  in  nearly  every  build- 
ing ;  classes  supported  by  parents  and  pupils  at  $1  per  quarter; 
chiefly  taught  after  school-hours  ;  unauthorized,  therefore  forbidden, 
and  promptly  suppressed  ;  vocal  music  had  a  similar  history. 

1838.  Lower  classes  first  ordered  examined  ;  previously  only  the  highest  had 

been. 
No.  16  opened  in  Fifth  Street. 


228  HISTORY  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

1838.  Distribution  of  income   of  surplus  Revenue  Fund,  aM  establishment  of 

libraries. 

Name  of  African  Schools  changed  to  Colored  Schools. 

Old  No.  1  in  Tryon  Row  torn  down,  and  school  reopened  in  new  build- 
ing in  William  Street  (it  has  been  recently  again  removed  to  Van- 
dewater  Street). 

Joseph  Lancaster  again  visits  New  York  ;  asks  and  obtains  use  of  room 
in  No.  5  for  lectures  to  teachers ;  proposes  to  the  trustees  that  he  shall 
"  take  forty  Primary  pupils  who  do  not  know  their  letters  and  teach 
them  to  read  in  from  four  to  six  weeks,  using  ten  others  as  monitors ; 
he  will  not  disclose  his  plan,  nor  permit  any  one  whomsoever  to  be 
present  at  any  of  his  exercises  with  his  pupils — report  adverse.  He 
was  killed  a  few  days  after  by  being  run  over  in  the  street ;  the  Board 
suspended  all  business,  and  all  the  schools  were  closed  to  attend  his 
funeral. 

Application  for  a  declaratory  act  as  to  the  half-mill  tax. 

1839.  Three  pupils  from  Public  Schools  have  free  scholarship  in  Columbia 

College. 
Property  corner  of  Grand  and  Elm  purchased  for  $19,500,  June  27, 

now  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

1810.  Feb.  5,  Monthly  and  semi-annual  Certificates  of  Merit  instituted. 
Robert  C.  Cornell,  President,  died  May,  1845. 
Beginning  of  the  "  religious"  controversy  of  1810-42. 
Expurgation  of  offensive  passages  from  school-books. 
Total  salaries  of  teachers,  $60,000. 

Many  documents  in  the  controversy  on  religion  and  schools. 
Resolution  "that  music  is  not  one  of  the  branches  taught  in  the  Public 

Schools,  Sept.  5. 
550  vagrant  children  brought  to  school  by  visitors  in  six  months. 

1841.  Trustees'  Hall  completed. 

Paying  fire-monitors  ceases ;  had  previously  received  $5  a  year  and 
the  ashes ;  wood  the  only  fuel ;  schools  heretofore  chiefly  swept,  etc., 
by  delinquents. 

1176  Vagrant  children  admitted;  356  remain. 

Section  No.  5  asks  that  the  female  assistant  may  be  permitted  to  teach 
girls  of  that  school  to  sing ;  time,  after  school ;  no  compensation 
asked — "  declined." 

Appointment  of  a  committee  of  three  to  mark  the  performances  of  class- 
es in  examinations. 

1842.  First  recorded  comparative  table  of  the  "marking  system," April. 
Act  of  April  establishes  the  BOARD  or  EDUCATION. 


THE  END. 


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